Vfacts January 2011

[Resurrection]

Any numbers? Ford will be lucky if it sold more than 1,000 FGs.

[Sorted]

2.9% interest on Toyota Finance will see Toyota with Hugh Numbers

Why cant ford do 2.9%

[aquahead2001]

From: http://theage.drive.com.au/motor-new...203-1aeq0.html

Falcon, Commodore sales dive, small cars up Toby Hagon
February 3, 2011 - 12:31PM

Falcon sales took a dive in January.

January 2011 sales figures show Australians are continuing to downsize - to the detriment of locally-produced large cars.

Australia's large car stalwarts - the Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore - have been punished in the January new-car sales results, succumbing to a continued onslaught by smaller, more efficient vehicles.

The Ford Falcon - once Australia's best-selling car - managed just 1157 sales in January, being outsold by more than three-to-one by the Toyota Corolla. The Falcon, which is due to be updated this year with the addition of a four-cylinder engine option, didn't even register among the top 10 selling vehicles for January.

With rumours swirling of the Falcon's long-term demise, it was also outsold by the likes of the Hyundai i30 (1675) and Getz (2167), Holden Cruze (2060), Mazda2 (1359) and 3 (3605), Mitsubishi Lancer (1670), Nissan Navara 4WD ute (1686), Subaru Impreza (1765) and Toyota Hilux 4WD ute (1580).

Advertisement: Story continues below Even the Audi brand - the top selling luxury marque for January with 1477 sales across its 12-model range - outsold the Falcon, which continues not to fit potentially life-saving curtain airbags as standard to most models.

Holden's Commodore - Australia's best-selling car for 15 consecutive years - also posted below average January sales, managing just 2645 units.

The result was once again a blow for locally manufactured vehicles, with 7248 sold in January, representing just 9.8 per cent of the 73,584 cars sold.

The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries said the result was "solid" despite being down 1.7 per cent compared with January 2010.

"This is a robust January sales result and provides a good start to 2011," said FCAI chief executive Andrew McKellar. "It is encouraging to see that private buyers remained confident throughout January with sales to those customers up 13.6 percent while business purchases declined."

He said the Queensland floods had taken their toll on overall sales, dropping 12.8 per cent in that state, something likely to change over the coming months as affected people look to replace damaged vehicles.

"Obviously new vehicle sales in Queensland have taken a hit as people concentrate on the flood recovery effort," he said. "We can expect sales in Queensland to be slower in the short-term but will pick up in the months ahead as people begin to look for replacement vehicles," Mr McKellar said.

Toyota was once again the leading brand with a dominant 14,817 sales, enough to boost the brand's market share even further to the point where it now accounts for almost one in four new-vehicle sales (22.4 per cent).

Toyota's surge was led by the Corolla, which was the best selling vehicle with 4045 sales, beating the rival Mazda3 by 440.

The strong Corolla result is partly skewed by a strong 2.9 per cent finance deal that teams with other discounts to make the car particularly attractive. Then again, the entire new-car market is in discount mode in January as it tries to clear last year's stock.

Once again it was smaller vehicles that led the way in January. Sales of small cars - the biggest single segment according to the FCAI - surged 10.9 per cent, while light (or city) cars grew by 16.9 per cent.

Of the four-wheel-drive-style wagons, or SUVs, small ones enjoyed sales growth of 7.5 per cent.

Proving there's still a demand for larger vehicles, sales of large 4WDs grew by 29.3 per cent, although there were only 1103 sold in total.

The FCAI has tipped a record year for vehicles sales, which are forecast to top 1.05 million.

[Joe5619]

OMG 1,157 falcons... Why even bother??

[Brazen]

Focus not being built here was the decision which will kill local production if Falcon doesnt pick up.

[Road_Warrior]

I think you will find that there was a substantial plant closure over the holiday period.

[Smoke Pursuit]

Originally Posted by Road_Warrior

I think you will find that there was a substantial plant closure over the holiday period.

Shouldnt make any difference, theres alot of 2010 Plate stock on the ground, and even 2009 plate.

The candle is dwindling away for the Falcon...

[Joe5619]

Originally Posted by Road_Warrior

I think you will find that there was a substantial plant closure over the holiday period.

I thought the point to the plant closeures was becuase they have too much stock? With those numbers they still havn't sold them access stock. Not even in the top 10!!

I wonder if another model was number # 1 for the month for Ford? When was the last time Falcon was not Ford's number #1 model??

[Resurrection]

Originally Posted by Road_Warrior

I think you will find that there was a substantial plant closure over the holiday period.

What a stupid comment. You claim the low sales were due to a substantial plant closure. The truth is the plant closure was due to low orders from dealers. If people were buying FGs en mass, the plant wouldn't have been shut down for such a long period.

[Road_Warrior]

Originally Posted by Resurrection

What a stupid comment. You claim the low sales were due to a substantial plant closure. The truth is the plant closure was due to low orders from dealers. If people were buying FGs en mass, the plant wouldn't have been shut down for such a long period.

What the hell is your problem? No need for the personal attack.

[Resurrection]

Originally Posted by Road_Warrior

What the hell is your problem? No need for the personal attack.

I said it was a stupid comment. Where was the personal attack?

[Road_Warrior]

Originally Posted by Resurrection

I said it was a stupid comment. Where was the personal attack?

Perhaps personal attack is not the right term, however you could have made your point with something more civil. It's done now.

However as another poster said, some dealers are saying they can't get stock yet the plant isnt getting the orders?? So who is right and who is wrong?? Dealers or head office??

[charles_wif_xf]

Originally Posted by Road_Warrior

I think you will find that there was a substantial plant closure over the holiday period.

But still, 1100 sales, thats just ridiculous!

[EgoFG]

Remember that there is no Falcon wagon, something that did bolster sales.
I would like to see sedan vss sedan, Falcon Vss Commodore (with FPV/HSV brokan out)

[MickyB]

I wonder what the worst month ever for Falcon is. January's result would have to be the worst since the XK, XL days I would have thought.

[russellw]

Originally Posted by MickyB

I wonder what the worst month ever for Falcon is. January's result would have to be the worst since the XK, XL days I would have thought.

From the figures I have that is the worst ever month for Falcon.

Certainly in the period since 1990 (for which I have detailed numbers), the next closest is the 1,252 of January 2008.

My older figures are annualised but even the worst of those (XK) averaged 2,974 a month so although it is possible one of those months was well below, it is probably unlikely to be lower than this figure.

Cheers
Russ

[MickyB]

Originally Posted by russellw

From the figures I have that is the worst ever month for Falcon.

Certainly in the period since 1990 (for which I have detailed numbers), the next closest is the 1,252 of January 2008.

My older figures are annualised but even the worst of those (XK) averaged 2,974 a month so although it is possible one of those months was well below, it is probably unlikely to be lower than this figure.

Cheers
Russ

Thanks Russ, I appreciate your knowledge. Whilst it doesn't look good for Falcon in isolation, I think we'll have to wait for a couple of months worth of sales before we can really get an idea. From what others are saying, it certainly doesn't help not having the LPG car available, as well as no XR8 or wagon option.

[Brazen]

great timing for the poor new CEO

[vztrt]

Something is not right. Why are dealers saying that you cant get models till after March but they're not selling anything. Ford itself looks empty (well better then mid year last year), FPV has little to nothing in their yard.

Mind you Commodore only did 2645, so they had a quiet month.

[flappist]

Yeh its not like anything happened in January that might have interfered with sales of new cars....

[stevz]

Originally Posted by flappist

Yeh its not like anything happened in January that might have interfered with sales of new cars....

Well it obviously didn't stop other brands from selling ie.Toyota.

[Rodp]

Originally Posted by stevz

Well it obviously didn't stop other brands from selling ie.Toyota.

How many were enticed by low interest loans they were offering?

I know a mate of mine bought a hybrid Camry because of it - and he's still not game enough to bring it over to show me.

[anto]

Originally Posted by Rodp

How many were enticed by low interest loans they were offering?

I know a mate of mine bought a hybrid Camry because of it - and he's still not game enough to bring it over to show me.

a friend of mine did it as well ( for his wife )..always bought fords but couldnt go past the deal they gave him on interest and trade in value.

[Brazen]

Falcon ute sold 479, does anyone know what Territory sold?

[Ford_The_Win]

The Falcon will never sell if Ford keep clipping it's wings.. Outsold by the Navara and Lancer FFS!

[russellw]

Originally Posted by Brazen

Falcon ute sold 479, does anyone know what Territory sold?

673 - i more than the same month last year.

Cheers
Russ

[Adamz Ghia]

Think we all need to take a breath for a second. Sales are down, but subtract gas from last years tally, XR8 sales and wagon sales. That will give us a clearer picture of where it's at. I'd do it, but I have no idea where everyone gets these figures from...

When EB and E-Gas come on line, give it 6 months before judging the sales again.

[Road_Warrior]

Caradvice article with quotes from the Ford mouthpiece:

http://www.caradvice.com.au/102655/f...years-or-more/

The Ford Falcon endured its worst sales month in at least 15 years – potentially longer – in January 2011.

It’s a shocker of a result: Ford Falcon sales for January 2011 have plummeted to their lowest level in at least 15 years. CarAdvice has trawled through all all the new vehicle sales data available to us to reveal that last month’s 1157 sales (not including utes) was the worst result in at least a decade and a half for the Australian-made Falcon.

The data readily available to us stretches back to September 1996, and reveals Falcon to be incredibly far from the glory days of the past, where at times it sold at more than six times its current rate.

In September 2003, less than eight years ago, the Falcon had its strongest monthly sales result in modern history, with 7409 new Falcons sold (not including utes). That year was also Falcon’s best selling year ever, with 73,220 vehicles sold across the country.

The rise and fall of the Falcon:

2001 – 53,534

2002 – 54,629

2003 – 73,220

2004 – 65,384

2005 – 53,080

2006 – 42,390

2007 – 33,941

2008 – 31,936

2009 – 31,023

2010 – 29,516

The January result was the worst since January 2008, when Ford sold 1252 Falcons. It is one of only a handful of occasions that Falcon sales have been below 2000 units in the past 15 years.

Despite the wooden-spoon record-breaking Falcon sales, Ford Australia’s Sinead McAlary said January was a good month for the brand overall, with increased popularity of Fiesta, Focus and Ranger 4×4. The Blue Oval was down 4.7 percent (compared with the industry average 1.7 percent decline) and lost 0.3 percent market share compared with December 2010.

She said there were a number of factors behind the Falcon’s low sales result.

“January is generally a slow month for leasing companies, and what we found was it was an even quieter month for rental car companies,” Ms McAlary said.

“But the biggest single factor was the lack of LPG.”

Ford discontinued its LPG system in September last year, as it no longer complied with Euro IV emissions regulations. Ms McAlary said LPG-powered vehicles generally accounted for 20 to 25 percent of Falcon sales each month, and admitted there were only very small numbers of LPG Falcons still available from dealers.

Ford will replace the system around the middle of this year with its all-new LPI (liquid phase injection) LPG system, which promises to be more efficient and provide better performance than the old LPG system.

Ms McAlary decribed the introduction of the Falcon LPI, the four-cylinder EcoBoost engine in the fourth quarter and a facelift in the second half of the year as “paradigm shifts” for the vehicle, and evolutions that Ford expected would have a positive impact on sales.

The 2011 result was 50.1 percent below January 2010 (2318 units), and there is now the real possibility the Falcon could be replaced at the top of Ford Australia’s sales charts by the Fiesta or the Focus.

Fiesta sales increased 17.2 percent compared with January 2010, bringing the Thai-sourced light car within 30 units of the Falcon (1127 vs 1157).

The Focus also enjoyed a strong month, with sales up 25.8 percent to 1057 – exactly 100 shy of the Falcon.

Ms McAlary said Ford was not phased by the prospect of smaller imports overtaking Falcon as the brand’s highest selling model, and said Ford Australia saw the increased popularity of its small vehicles as a positive thing.

“Those vehicles introduce new customers to the brand and both compete in growing segments,” she said.

She said Ford Australia had absolutely no intentions of holding either model back to keep the Falcon on top.

The January result saw the Falcon tumble outside the top 10 sellers for the first time in more than decade, but Ms McAlary said the ranking was of little significance to Ford.

“It means less to us that it means to all of you,” she said, in reference to the media’s fascination with Falcon sales data.

“Of course we would like more sales … but we want to build the right cars that the customers and the dealers are looking for.”

Ms McAlary predicted January – historically the slowest selling month of the year – would be the smallest month for the Falcon in 2011, but stopped short of offering forecasts for the rest of the year.

Sales of the Falcon’s main competitor, the Holden Commodore, were also low compared with January 2010. Holden sold 2645 Commodore’s in the first month of the year, 18.4 percent below last year’s 3241.

Sales of the Toyota Aurion were down 25.1 percent to just 654, while the mid-sized Camry – a top 10 regular in Australia – tied with the Focus in 16th position with 1057 sales, 12 percent fewer than in January 2010.

Whilst the media circlejerking about the Falcon's future and such low sales number &%@ me, those comments from Ford convey a more-or-less "carefactor = 0" attitude. What the hell is going on here???

[stevz]

Originally Posted by Road_Warrior

Caradvice article with quotes from the Ford mouthpiece:

http://www.caradvice.com.au/102655/f...years-or-more/



Whilst the media circlejerking about the Falcon's future and such low sales number &%@ me, those comments from Ford convey a more-or-less "carefactor = 0" attitude. What the hell is going on here???

It's as though they know the end is nigh and they just cant be bothered.

[Smoke Pursuit]

Ford could have done with an extra 500 XR50 sedans instead of G6 50's.. Ive been trying to get a nitro one for a friend for the last 2 days and they are all gone in QLD...