VFACTS April 2010

[Ghiadude]

I worked in a call centre once. the boss said my calls were too short and i couldnt be providing enough customer service. The next month he told me that my calls were too long and I was providing too much customer service. I hadnt changed anything that i was doing. My point is that the sales figures are just numbers on a spreadsheet. Im more interested in hearing that FoA is going to produce another falcon because they sold enough last year. Another Falcon means manufacturing stays in Australia, which means people have jobs where I live. This means lower unemployment and less lowlife scumbags taking drugs and making the streets look untidy.

I just tied me, working in a call centre, Ford Motor company of Australia, The ford falcon, car sales statistics, junkies and social disorder all into one neat and succinct post....Man I love the Internet.

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by burnz

didn't ford have % intrest in kia

I believe they still do. They are sharing a factory in Vietnam I believe.

[mik]

Originally Posted by russellw

The Commodore is in at 3,165 for the month and a quick look at the graphs shows that to be the case - with the exception of the combined platform graph which adds the Ute sales in as well. Likewise the segment based graphs in the Supplementary stats are based on rolling averages so the figures do not represent a single month but the average over 40+ months.

Cheers
Russ

my goodness , my eyes were starting to go wobbly with all those figures and graphs Russ, nice job putting all that together.

[phillyc]

Originally Posted by Joe5619

When put like that is sounds ok, but Toyota wanted to sell 10,000 of them a year, which is 833 per month.. So 396 is well short of Toyota's own goal..

Yes. But we don't know how the supply situation is either. Also, the Hybrid Camry got launched into the middle of the Toyota recall fiasco which involved 8million vehicles and then spread to other models including hybrids...

[burnz]

Originally Posted by vztrt

I believe they still do. They are sharing a factory in Vietnam I believe.

festiva/fiesta was a joint project from memory.

[Chopped]

Holden Commodore
2009 > 3177
2010 > 3165
Holden Cruze
2009 > 0
2010 > 2514

I'm not sure that the Cruze is stealing many Commodore sales at all. That would be like saying that the Focus is stealing sales from the Falcon.

I think the Cruze is more likely to be stealing sales from Corolla and Mazda 3 etc.

[Eu-GenixX]

well considering most other cars went up from this time last year.. and commodore stayed the same.. i think some commodore sales have gone to the cruze...

the most accurate way to check would be to check the month to month sales since the cruze as been released.. not just from 12 months ago... and being that was a peak time of the GFC.. the figures can be very misleading. and should be compared perhaps to the year before..

[EDManual]

carmy/aurion outsold falcon too. Realy they are the same car. Like a falcon 6cyl and v8 are the same car.

[Quicksand]

Originally Posted by Chopped

I'm not sure that the Cruze is stealing many Commodore sales at all. That would be like saying that the Focus is stealing sales from the Falcon.

I think the Cruze is more likely to be stealing sales from Corolla and Mazda 3 etc.

Completely agree. I dont buy the whole 'Cruze is leaching sales from Commodore' argument. The stats seem to argue otherwise.

[jpd80]

Holden buyers want a good small car and Cruze is filling that bill.
Rather than knocking Cruze, we should be asking why Ford's Focus (and Mondeo) sell so poorly...

Maybe FoA should look at Falcon based M3 and M5 sized RWD vehicles and skip a couple of non performers...

[phillyc]

Originally Posted by Inducted_Breeze

Completely agree. I dont buy the whole 'Cruze is leaching sales from Commodore' argument. The stats seem to argue otherwise.

My best mate is a salesman for GMHolden at one of the largest dealers in SEQ. He sold 25 cars last month and the majority were Cruze. Certainly more than Commodore. He agrees it isn't a great car, but it is a very good one. But he tries to get people into the diesel as he rates it so much more highly than the pathetic petrol. At a retail level, his experience since launch is that Cruze is stealing sales from Commodore.

[phillyc]

Originally Posted by jpd80

Holden buyers want a good small car and Cruze is filling that bill.
Rather than knocking Cruze, we should be asking why Ford's Focus (and Mondeo) sell so poorly...

Maybe FoA should look at Falcon based M3 and M5 sized RWD vehicles and skip a couple of non performers...

Like the sound of that, but it just isn't realistic unfortunately. Falcon is just a bit bigger than M5 size though. So, maybe Falcon could shrink a little for the next gen when GRWD happens.

[Quicksand]

Hmm, interesting points you raise phillyc. I wonder if this is a broad epidemic or if it is an isolated issue to that dealership that your friend works at. Commodore still seems to be holding its own with the Cruze in terms of sales volumes.

[Swordsman88]

Originally Posted by Chopped

I'm not sure that the Cruze is stealing many Commodore sales at all. That would be like saying that the Focus is stealing sales from the Falcon.

I think the Cruze is more likely to be stealing sales from Corolla and Mazda 3 etc.

I haven't got the time right now to check the exact numbers but wasn't teh comodore one of few cars (both segment and overall) to LOSE sales year on year. Basically, given the current deals on teh table (at least equal to those this time last year if not more) why is commodore not up at all.....

Also the cruze comparison is misleading. You need to look at teh previous model/s that were on sale adn compare those year on year.

Based on that (astra/viva last year) cruze has increased holden's sales in that segment from 980 to 2500. Now the commodore went DOWN 10 sales. The overall market gain was 27% year on year. This tallies with ford going up 600 or so FG sales year on year (29%). Cruze did a much bigger jump than just 29% over the previous model....and that is understandable (its more appealing to the market for a range of reasons). BUT, its is not clear where those sales come from. Corolla for example increased 22% year on year....not much of a dent there...) My argument would be, given holden isn't that well known in that segment (esp with no hatch product) and with a new model car the sales probably come from the buyers most familiar with holden already (either previous small holdens or other models).

Put it this way, if the cruze didn't have a measurable impact on the commodore...why did the VE not keep pace with the market improvement (not even close). Either VE had a very good april in 2009 (doesn't look like it to me based on raw numbers but maybe so) or it got shafted by someone. Cruze is the likely suspect IMO.....

[Chopped]

Maybe the VE has finally reached it's use by date and needs a freshen up. Fleet sales are keeping the numbers up. The potential private buyers are waiting for the VF or have switched to the FG.

I think Cruze buyers had already made up their mind that they wanted a smaller vehicle than a Falcon or Commodore (a worrying trend). I think if Cruze wasn't around then it would just mean more sales to the other brands in that class.

Unrelated : Watch the Chinese brands come up. The crowded pond just got some more fish in it !.

[Eu-GenixX]

i do agree with the trend towards smaller cars...

i just bought myself a new lancer last month.. (going from a BF XR6).. it ticked all the boxes.. it's very comfy.. doesn't feel small.. fair amount of space inside it too.. and fuel usage compared to the falcon is brilliant..

i'm completely happy with the decision to change to a smaller car.. the cruze was never even an option to me tho..

[Chopped]

Nice buy. I like the look of them. They are quite big for a "smaller" car.

[phillyc]

Originally Posted by Swordsman88

Based on that (astra/viva last year) cruze has increased holden's sales in that segment from 980 to 2500. Now the commodore went DOWN 10 sales.

I think you probably need to maybe go back a bit further as there was an unofficial stop on the importing of the Astra early last year. Remember at that time that Opel/Vauxhall were up for sale as GM staggered towards bankruptcy and GMH (we're led to believe) narrowly avoided the same. So, they waited until GM Daewoo had the Cruze ready to roll.

Astra used to sell in that 1500 bracket. Viva got about 500 from memory.

[MethodX]

Cruze looks like an ok car for the price, the diesel anyway.
But didnt they have a recall on it? some fuel line thing?

[uranium_death]

I am not surprised by the success of the Cruze though.
It's a moderately priced car that looks okay. I think the back of it looks sloppy and outdated, but the front is okay.
It is well equipped for the cost, and Australians still love value.

The fact that it has a Holden badge, and Holden can also market to people's naievity has only made it an even better seller.

If I was going for a smaller car, I would pay a bit more and go a Lancer. I've always felt Mitsubishis are grossly underrated cars, the Magna being a prime example.

Seeing that I am not, it almost makes my views irrelevant, but that's okay, because I'm not really all that significant either.

[imugli]

Originally Posted by vztrt

I believe they still do. They are sharing a factory in Vietnam I believe.

I believe Hyundai now own 100% of Kia.

[imugli]

Originally Posted by bobthebilda

I think a few of them change if you work it that way
1) Toyota 16697 + Lexus 449 + subaru 3216 = 20362
2) Holden 9964 + Saab (0) = 9964
3) Hyundai 6725 + Kia = 1938 = 8663
4) Ford = 8192
5) Mazda 6805
6) Nissan 4660 + Renault 203 =4863
7) Mitsubishi 4805
8) Volkswagon 2846 + Porsche 53 + Bentley 6 + Skoda 65 + Audi 1064 = 4034
9) Honda =3063

I think you will find that there is some guy in downtown tokyo that actually owns all the worlds car companies. The industry is so incestuous, you'd have a far better chance of working out the family lineage of someone from salisbury than you would the worlds car industry.

That makes very little sense at all...

* Toyota only owns 16% of Fuji Heavy Industries, who make Subaru.
* Holden no longer even distribute Saab, let alone the fact that GM no longer own any of it.
* As mentioned, Ford still own 13% or so of Mazda, but none of Kia and we won't count Volvo as it's been sold.
* Nissan and Renault do not own each other outright. They both hold a share in the other company - a true 'Joint Venture'. To make things even more complicated, they have both just taken 1.55% each in Daimler, while Daimler has taken a 3.1% stake in both Renault and Nissan.
* Volkswagen also own a 20% share of Suzuki.

And they're just the brands on that list.

Still want to combine numbers?

[Resurrection]

It is interesting to note that more FG sedans were sold than VE sedans.

I Ford did a FG wagon they'd now be no. 1.

[Bossxr8]

FG sedan outsells VE sedan quite often.

[Resurrection]

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

FG sedan outsells VE sedan quite often.

No FG sedan hasn't until recently.

[Bossxr8]

It has done it at least 4 times in the past 12 months.

[uranium_death]

Originally Posted by Resurrection

It is interesting to note that more FG sedans were sold than VE sedans.

I Ford did a FG wagon they'd now be no. 1.

Yes, but the money invested in designing, testing and producing a wagon would never be recovered.

SUVs are the way to go now. The market has spoken.

Selling more cars does not necessarily equate to a larger profit, or even a profit at all.

[prydey]

Originally Posted by uranium_death

Selling more cars does not necessarily equate to a larger profit, or even a profit at all.

a concept many fail to grasp. like performance figures, there is often way more to the story than just numbers.

[phillyc]

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

It has done it at least 4 times in the past 12 months.

Correct. FG sedan outsold VE sedan twice in the final quaterof 2009 alone.