Australian new vehicles sales were the second strongest on record last year according to 2006 figures just released by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI).
A total of 962,521 new vehicles were sold in 2006 -- 2.6 per cent down on the 2005 record of over 988,000 sales. Despite the '06 'rollback' the local new vehicle market has grown more than 25 per cent since 2000. The FCAI stats are preliminary, however, only minor changes are expected (to the heavy truck totals).
At an average of $25,000 per car, the figures translate to Aussies spending more than $24b on new motor vehicles last year!
Toyota was the top-selling brand in 2006 for the fourth consecutive year. The powerhouse marque topped the 210,000 mark (213,847) and outsold second and third placed rivals Holden and Ford by a staggering 67,336 and 98,882 vehicles respectively.
Toyota's milestone sales in 2006 also ensured the company took out the ‘triple crown' of Australian new vehicles sales -- number one overall, top-selling passenger car brand and top selling light commercial marque. It was the first time since 1978 that one brand had grabbed the three key metrics.
Toyota now claims four of Australia's top 10 models -- compared to three for Holden.
The top-four selling marques were unchanged in order in 2006, with Mazda following the big three. That said, only Toyota increased its market share.
Honda grabbed the number five spot leapfrogging Mitsubishi, Nissan and Hyundai. Ninth was Subaru and Volkswagen rounded out the top ten displacing Kia and entering the top marques for the first time after increasing its sales by more than 36 per cent year on year.
FCAI boss Peter Sturrock said 2006 had seen a "noticeable change" in Australian new car buying habits, but that the nation had not ended its "love affair with new cars."
The light car segment grew more than 21 per cent against a near static small car segment (up 0.6 per cent). The other stand out growth segments for 4x4 utes (up almost 8 per cent) and the burgeoning Toorak tractor brigade -- luxury SUVs, up over 10 per cent.
Sturrock commented that while large car and medium SUV sales were down 18.4 and 15.2 per cent respectively, Aussies "in common with almost every other marketplace in the world... will continue to buy the most space, power and performance that we can afford."
The FCAI boss also predicted that 2007 would see "steady" domestic vehicle sales. The industry body has predicted around 1 per cent growth in the coming year pegging the total market at 970,000 units.
Australia's top ten marques and models are listed below.
2006 Top Ten Marques
1 Toyota 213,847 - 22.2 per cent
2 Holden 146,511 - 15.2 per cent
3 Ford 114,965 - 11.9 per cent
4 Mazda 63,664 - 6.6 per cent
5 Honda 54,202 - 5.6 per cent
6 Mitsubishi 54,175 - 5.6 per cent
7 Nissan 53,392 - 5.5 per cent
8 Hyundai 46,523 - 4.8 per cent
9 Subaru 37,520 - 3.9 per cent
10 Volkswagen 21,571 - 2.2 per cent
2006 Top Ten Models
1 Commodore 56,531
2 Corolla 46,256
3 Falcon 42,390
4 HiLux 36,885
5 Mazda3 32,432
6 Camry 30,244
7 Yaris 27,990
8 Getz 20,853
9 Astra 19,681
10 Rodeo 18,446