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Buyers eye SUVs and luxury

Meredith Stone and partner Dennis O'Mera bought a Subaru XV to replace their Suzuki Swift and Toyota Prado.

The latest Roy Morgan research has recorded the highest level of car-buying interest in the past 10 years.

Their Leading Indicators Report for March found an estimated 741,000 Australians intend to buy a new car in the next 12 months, based on a survey of more than 50,000 private buyers which excludes fleet, government and rental buyers.

However, it also found an estimated 2.29 million Australians intend to buy a new car in the next four years which is down just 1.3 per cent on the record February figure of 2.26 million. Big winners over the past year are the luxury brands led by Audi, up 62.5 per cent to 2.6 per cent of those intending to buy in the next four years.

It was followed by BMW (36.3 per cent increase to 3 per cent) and Lexus (11.1 per cent to 1 per cent). Roy Morgan Research industry communications director Norman Morris says Audi is catching up to the traditional German brands with a more "youthful, sporty image".

The losers are Suzuki (down 38.9 per cent to 1.1 per cent), Nissan (-20 per cent to 3.6 per cent) and Mitsubishi (-19 per cent to 4.6 per cent). "With increased competition from Euro brands, someone has to lose out and it seems some of the Japanese brands don't have the prestige image attached to buying a Euro brand," Morris says.

The Roy Morgan figures for buyer intentions over the next four years largely favour small cars, such as the Holden Cruze and Toyota Corolla, with more than one in five intending to buy a city run-about, up 9.6 per cent in the past year. They will move away from large cars (down 16.6 per cent to 9 per cent) and light cars (down 14. per cent to 6.3 per cent).

The segment expected to record the biggest growth in sales in the next four years will be small SUVs costing less than $40,000 which is up 85.7 per cent to 2.8 per cent in the past year. Compact SUVs last year accounted for almost half of all SUV sales and 12 per cent of all new vehicle sales, increasing by 5.8 per cent to a 12-month tally of 121,387 despite the total market dropping 2.6 per cent to 1,008,437.

"I've even got one myself," says Morris. "They've become a lot more refined and car-like, they're quite acceptable and more versatile. Not everyone wants to go driving in the mud. "There doesn't seem to be any stigma attached to them now. "Even prestige marques are coming into the SUV market which was unheard of in the past."

Morris says the survey reflects strong VFACT figures for new vehicle sales in the first quarter. "Of the mainstream brands, Subaru and Mazda appear to be the major beneficiaries in the short term," he says. "After a turbulent 2011, this will be welcome relief for Subaru, who have recently introduced their all-new Small SUV - the XV - and also launched the new Impreza range."

Meredith Stone and partner Dennis O'Mera bought a Subaru XV to replace their Suzuki Swift and Toyota Prado. "We wanted something in between and I travel a fair bit and its fairly economical," Stone says. "To be honest we were originally attracted by the advert. I love the orange colour. "Then we had a look at it and were impressed by all the features."

BUYER INTENT

SEGMENTS %of buyers %age change in past year
Light <$25k 6.3% -14.8%
Small <$40k 21.6% 9.6%
Medium <$60k 7.9% -2.4%
Large <$70k 9% -16.6%
SUV small <$40k 2.8% 85.7%
SUV med <$60k 8.1% -9%
SUV large <$70k 10.6% 10.4%
Light commercial 8.8% 6.8%
BRANDS % of buyers %age change in past year
Audi 2.6% 62.5%
BMW 3% 36.3%
Ford 7.7% 0%
Holden 10.8% -8.4%
Honda 5.3% 0%
Hyundai 4.3% 4.8%
Kia 2% 33.3%
Lexus 1% 11.1%
Mazda 8.5% 21.4%
Mercedes-Benz 2.1% 0%
Mitsubishi 4.1% -19%
Nissan 3.6% -20%
Subaru 4.6% 6.9%
Suzuki 1.1% -38.9%
Toyota 19% 9.8%
Volkswagen 5% -3.8%