Top selling vehicles for 2007

With the local car industry now at the halfway point in the 2007 sales race, it is easy to see who's winning and who's losing.

Toyota is basking in the glory of not only being No.1, but also cementing its sales lead so convincingly that — barring a catastrophe — it will take out the sales crown this year.

The Altona-based Japanese company is 40,404 vehicles clear of its nearest rival, Holden. It is also relishing the positive spin of the Corolla knocking off the Holden Commodore last month.

But apart from Toyota, other players are also revelling in the good times.

Of the importers, Mazda, Subaru, Suzuki and Peugeot managed strong June sales.

Mazda sold 6932 cars, with the Mazda3 being the strongest seller on 3037.

The company experienced the biggest market share gain of any importer.

Its record half-yearly result is 20.3 per cent up on the same time last year, lifting market share from 6.7 per cent in 2006 to 7.5 per cent, a gain of 0.7 percentage points.

Subaru's tally was 4085 for the month, with the Forester, Impreza and Liberty all breaking through 1000 sales.

Suzuki, like many importers, was buoyed by keen end-of-financial year deals.

It sold 2368 cars for the month, bringing its year-to-date tally to 10,910 vehicles, a 43 per cent lift over last year.

Of the French, an ever-expanding Peugeot line-up continues to bolster sales, but Renault flops around due to a lack of new product.

Peugeot sold 1016 vehicles last month, bringing its year-to-date run-rate to 4549, a 13 per cent lift over last year. The 307 continues to be Peugeot's best seller.

By contrast, Renault has a year-to-date total of 1431 vehicles, 32 cars fewer than last year.

Even Saab experienced some solid growth, albeit off a low base, as the 9-3 turbodiesel helped lift the marque's appeal.

Saab sold 336 cars last month, its best month for 10 years, taking its year-to-date tally to 1148, a 170 per cent lift over last year.

The X-Trail, Tiida and Navara continue to drive Nissan sales. The Japanese importer sold 5845 vehicles last month with 31,176 year-to-date, a 20 per cent lift over last year.

The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries monthly Vfacts figures show that most of the extra volume last month was generated by the light, small and medium car segments.

A breakdown of large car sales shows that Holden sold 5588 Commodores last month, Ford 3206 Falcons, Toyota 2626 Aurions and Mitsubishi just 877 380 V6s.

All three were eclipsed by the new four-cylinder Corolla, which secured 5890 sales.

But a finer look at the figures shows that much of the Corolla's success was down to fleet purchases and pent-up demand for the new car, which spiked figures.

But a sale is a sale. Holden's own figures point out that 29 per cent of VE Commodores are bought by private buyers, as opposed to 18.6 per cent for the VT Commodore.

Apart from the Corolla, other small car stars were the Mitsubishi Lancer with 2143 sales, Holden Astra 1763 and Ford Focus 1550.

Of the tiddlers, Toyota again ruled last month. The Yaris managed 2926 sales against 2486 for the Hyundai Getz, 1361 for the Kia Rio, 1351 for the Suzuki Swift and 1392 for the Honda Jazz.

Despite the dominance of the light, small and medium segments, large cars were up 3.7 per cent in June and, in year-to-date terms, are running 5.1 per cent ahead of last year.

However, Ford's overall market share has slipped 2 per cent and Holden's by almost 1 per cent, despite its Korean strategy, which was hoping to deliver an increased share.

Mitsubishi is a bit stronger, experiencing a 0.6 per cent overall drop in share and, despite Toyota's increasing sales, its share has increased by only about 0.6 per cent.

One of the more interesting results was for the Ford Fairlane.

Ford sold 149 Fairlanes, bolstered by the news that the long-wheelbase sedan will be axed at the end of the year.

Dealers are also reporting a slight pick-up in interest for the car from fleets.

Overall, the year-to-date sales figure of 524,376 means that a record 1 million market is likely by December.

Top 10 makes

1 Toyota 24,539

2 Holden 14,256

3 Ford 10,304

4 Mitsubishi 8194

5 Mazda 6932

6 Nissan 5845

7 Honda 5750

8 Hyundai 5023

9 Subaru 4085

10 Volkswagen 2848

Top 10 models

1 Toyota Corolla 5890

2 Holden Commodore 5588

3 Toyota HiLux 4249

4 Ford Falcon 3206

5 Mazda3 3037

6 Toyota Yaris 2926

7 Toyota Camry 2645

8 Toyota Aurion 2626

9 Hyundai Getz 2486

10 Mitsubishi Lancer 2143