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Korean cars outsell Aussie-made


New sales figures reveal that not only do buyers continue to prefer cars made in Japan by a ratio of almost two to one, they also prefer cars built in Korea to locally-made ones, which have been outsold by Seoul for the first time.

In August we bought 26,456 cars from Japan and 11,704 from Korea — and only 11,540 big Australians. Cars made in Thailand, which include most Hondas, were the fourth most popular at 9711.

The best-selling car for the second consecutive month was Toyota's imported Corolla, which outsold Holden's steadily declining Commodore by 3659 to 3329. The once Commodore-rivalling Ford Falcon sedan could muster only 2449 sales, behind the Mazda3 and barely ahead of the Mitsubishi Lancer and Hyundai i30 — all lean-running four-cylinder imports.

Of the remaining Aussies, Ford's Falcon Ute and Territory, Holden's Statesman and Toyota's Aurion all lost ground compared to August 2008. Tellingly, the only locally-produced car to improve performance was Toyota's four-cylinder Camry. An increasing proportion of the cars made in Australia are Toyotas.

While not the worst ever result for Commodore and Falcon, it was a dismal return for a month in which the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) said private buyers returned to the market.

The difficulty is that Commodore and Falcon rely on fleet sales for more than 70 per cent of their volume. And while a respectable total of 73,287 vehicles were driven out of sales yards last month, the large car segment was down by a massive 21.3 per cent on the same period for 2008.

The small car segment, dominated by Japan and Korea, was up 7 per cent. Holden markets several models made in Korea, the newest of which, the Cruze, was its second best seller on 1971. It will be made here from next year.

FCAI chief executive Andrew McKellar says the rise of Korean cars is ‘well deserved’, but Australian car makers have ‘plans to enhance their positions' including a range of economical new engines, not least of which is Ford’s much-discussed proposal to stick a 2.0-litre turbo diesel in the Falcon and to belatedly give the Territory the diesel it needs.

McKellar says these are among the moves crucial in securing the Rudd Government's controversial $6.2 billion/four-year commitment to help Australian car makers. Toyota remained the top seller in August monthly market with 15,994 vehicle sales, ahead of Holden (9,505), Ford (7,623), Mazda (5,863) and Hyundai (5,980).

But August was a month in which makers of cars from the land of kim chee were entitled to crow — not least Hyundai, which achieved market share of 8.2 per cent in a total market that has decreased 14.2 per cent year to date. It remains the only top 10 brand to post a sales increase — eight consecutive months of year-on-year growth and an overall increase of sales of 32.5%YTD. “Hyundai’s sales results are a global success story and reflect the company’s acceptance as one of the top five global manufacturers,” Hyundai director of sales and marketing Kevin McCann says.

“In Australia, Hyundai has achieved remarkable growth this year based on our ability to deliver outstanding design, quality and value. Our growth here has enabled Hyundai and its dealers to invest in new facilities, people and training and in community sponsorships such as Hyundai A-League, Hopman Cup tennis, Carlton FC and numerous charitable involvements.”

TOP 10 BRANDS AUGUST 09, YTD 2009 (+/- 2008)
1 Toyota 15,994 126,891 (-)
2 Holden 9505 75,923 (-)
3 Ford 7623 61,862 (-)
4 Mazda 5863 50,490 (-)
5 Hyundai 5980 42,141 (+)
6 Nissan 3657 34,367 (-)
7 Mitsubishi 4551 35,780 (-)
8 Honda 2841 27,848 (-)
9 Subaru 2602 24,418 (-)
10 Volkswagen 2115 20,410 (-)

TOP 20 CARS AUGUST 09
1 Toyota Corolla 3659
2 Holden Commodore 3329
3 Mazda3 2898
4 Ford Falcon 2449
5 Toyota Hilux 2327
6 Toyota Camry 2192
7 Mitsubishi Lancer 2171
8 Hyundai i30 2105
9 Holden Cruze 1971
10 Hyundai Getz 1868
11 Toyota Yaris 1406
12 Mazda2 1134
13 Subaru Impreza 1120
14 Toyota Kluger 1108
15 Ford Focus 1097
16 Toyota Prado 1065
17 Toyota RAV4 1061
18 Nissan Navara 1043
19 Holden Captiva 1031
20 Mitsubishi Triton 1026

Total market August 2009 2008 YTD 2009 2008
Passenger 44,918 46,101 353,052 413,032
SUV 13,972 14,245 119,993 138,918
Light Cmcl 12,129 14,048 112,672 128,132
Heavy Cmcl 2268 2929 18,126 23,912
Total market 73,287 77,323 603,843 703,994
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