Sedan sales start to lift

 The large car segment is showing signs of a modest sales rally this year as buyers return to the market.  Big six sales are up 10 per cent and even the medium segment is up 14 per cent compared to last year.  Although the lion's share of sales still revolve around light and small cars and off-roaders, the signs are encouraging for local carmakers Holden, Ford and Toyota.

The Holden Commodore remains the undisputed king of family sedans but the dark horse is the Ford Falcon.  Ford has sold 13,349 Falcons this year, an increase of 20.5 per cent compared to last year.

This compares to 18,428 Commodores and a sales lift of 9.4 per cent compared to last year.  Analyst Tony Robinson, of Innovation Group Australia, believes the large car segment could continue to see some growth.

"I don't think we'll be seeing it slip into single digits," he says.  Robinson says fleets still underpin large car sales and as more come back into the market, the prospects look good.

Like small cars, the compact, medium, large and luxury off-roader segments are showing growth spurts.  Almost 95,000 off-roaders have been sold this year, 24,000 more than last year.

Subaru's Forester is the country's most popular "compact" off-roader with 5709 sales.  Subaru Australia spokesman, David Rowley, says the Forester had hit a sweet spot with buyers.  "It goes far beyond the traditional family car," he said.  "It also appeals to a wide audience, from young families to retirees."

With 7488 sales, Toyota's Prado leads the medium race while the LandCruiser has 3715 sales and is ahead in the large SUV segment.  Audi's Q5 is the luxury off-road star, beating BMW's X5 by just eight cars.

The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries VFACTS sales figures show that 89,218 cars, off-roaders and commercial vehicles were sold last month, up 13,777 vehicles over the same month last year.

Some car executives are confident 2010 will be a strong year.  Toyota's senior executive director sales and marketing, David Buttner, expects sales to hit the magic million.  "However, the potential impact of economic conditions, movements in interest rates and the impending Federal and Victorian elections remains unclear," he says.

Toyota remains in No1 sales spot with a market share of 20 per cent, ahead of Holden and Ford on 12.8 per cent and 10.1 per cent.  This year 422,446 new vehicles have been sold, 20 per cent up on the first five months of 2009.

Top 10 sellers in May

1 Holden Commodore 3899
2 Toyota HiLux 3665
3 Ford Falcon 3258
4 Mazda3 2901
5 Toyota Corolla 2796
6 Holden Cruze 2484
7 Hyundai i30 2385
8 Mitsubishi Lancer 2368
9 Nissan Navara 1972
10 Toyota Camry 1966

Top 10 brands in May

1 Toyota 17,832
2 Holden 11,381
3 Ford 9022
4 Mazda 6928
5 Hyundai 6378
6 Nissan 5814
7 Mitsubishi 5742
8 Subaru 3610
9 Honda 3508
10 Volkswagen 3332