Holden left clinging to top 10 after worst month of sales ever as new-car market continues to fall

Former homegrown-hero Holden has been left clinging to the top 10 as the new-car market’s woes continue in 2019, with just-released February sales figures showing declines across most major segments.

According to offical VFACTS data, a total 87,102 new vehicles were sold in February, down 9.3 per cent on the same month in 2018. Year-to-date, we've sold 169,096 new vehicles, down from the 184,550 units sold at this point last year.

The pain is being most acutely felt in the passenger car market, where sales dropped from 34,490 in February 2018 to 27,151 last month - a fall of 21.3 per cent. But few segments were immune. While our love affair with SUVs had been propping up our falling interest in passenger cars, that segment recorded falls of its own in February, with sales falling 6.3 per cent to 37,292 sales (also down 5.7 per cent year to date).

There is one bright spot on the automotive landscape, though, with light commercial vehicles (read: dual-cab utes) increasing six per cent this February compared with 2018, moving 19,831 units - enough to lift year-to-date sales by around half a per cent compared to this time last year.

Holden’s sales woes show no immediate signs of slowing, with the brand reporting another fall in monthly sales, this time recording 3825 units sold in February, down 18.4 per cent on the same month last year, when it shifted 4689 vehicles.

The result was enough for Holden to claim spot number 10 on the February best-seller list, with Honda a handful of sales ahead, recording 3865 units sold last month. Still, it was something of a horror month for the Japanese brand, with sales down 22.1 per cent on the same month last year.

Nissan (3923 sales, down 19.3 per cent on the same month last year) locks into spot number eight, followed by Volkswagen (4067 sales, down 12.9 per cent), Kia (4857 sales, up 4.1 per cent) and Ford (5678 sales, down 6.3 per cent) claiming spots seven through five.

There's been little jostling for position in the top four, with Toyota (16,359 sales, down 10.5 per cent on the same month last year), Mazda (9235 sales, down 6.8 per cent), Mitsubishi (8,495 sales, up a staggering 18.9 per cent), and Hyundai (6429, down 19.6 per cent) sitting at the top of the sales charts.

Will the new-car market recover? Or will this slump continue? Tell us in the comments below.