Vfacts For August 2009

[PETE_XR6]

What is last months figures looking like? and what will be Ford's excuse this month?

[Grunter]

The Vfact figures are always posted as soon as they are released.

It escapes me but what was Fords excuse last month?

[PETE_XR6]

SALES of SUVs has led a surge in new car sales from private buyers after months of uncertainty in the industry.

VFACTS industry sales figures due out at lunch-time are expected to show a return of private buyers to the market.

With sales of 73,287 vehicles in August, the overall market is down 4036 for the month compared to the same month last year.

But the 5.2 per cent drop in August masks some strong gains in specific segments as private buyers return to the market.

After several months of strong fleet and small business sales driven by the Federal Government's small business investment allowance, overal confidence appears to building.

One of the most popular sales segments, SUVs, is showing strong gains as private buyers come back.

Overall off-roader sales were up 4.1 per cent last month compared to August last year across the compact, medium and luxury SUV segments.

Luxury off-roaders drove the mix, with sales up 19.2 per cent with the medium SUV segment up 1.6 per cent.

One industry analyst said there was a mixed bag of results for August

"It's good to see private buyers returning to the market," they said.

Apart from off-roaders, the small car segment was up 7 per cent last month.

Toyota remains the market leader, followed by Holden and Ford.

Under the Federal Government investment scheme, small businesses can claim a 50 per cent tax deduction for eligible assets, including work vehicles, costing more than $1000 bought between December 13 last year and December 13 this year.

[merlin]

Fords excuse? Ford are making multi-award winning vehicles at present that keep winning reviews and that look better, outperform and are better value than the competition. They have never had a better product IMO (FG). I am sure they are stumped just as much as anyone...

[merlin]

Though I should add dropping the locally made Focus to be the "Falcon company" is a huge strategic error in a time of consumers downsizing and looking at environmental figures.

[ehast13]

Crappy marketing for the past 20 years was the biggest error.

I think Ford can take solace in the fact that 95% of their falcon sales are in value-added models and not XT.

Even if profits aren't up, it does improve the perception of Ford (e.g. Would people loathe the AU so much if the only ones they saw were fairmonts, Ghia's and XR's? Instead of 40 million high riding, skinny wheel, buck tooth series one FORTE's).

VFacts will be interesting tho. Will Recent announcements help or hinder ford sales?

[csv8]

Worrying signs for local car makers
RICHARD BLACKBURN
September 3, 2009 - 12:20PM

Sales of small cars were up last month, but there were worrying signs for local car makers, with buyers continuing to shun large cars.

Official figures released by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries show that the overall new car market was down 5 per cent in August, an improvement on the first seven months of the year, when sales dropped by almost 15 per cent.

But sales of locally-made large cars dropped by more than 20 per cent, with the imported Toyota Corolla toppling the homegrown Holden Commodore as the nation's most popular car.

Commodore sales were down by almost a third over last August as buyers held off for a new model due later this month, while sales of the Ford Falcon and Territory dipped by 10 per cent.

Toyota had mixed results, with sales of the updated four-cylinder Camry recording a big jump, while the six-cylinder Aurion performed poorly. The chief executive of the FCAI, Andrew McKellar, said the sales result indicated the industry had weathered the worst of the economic downturn.

"What we would take out of these figures is that there are some signs that private buyers are perhaps starting to come back into showrooms. There is some degree of renewed confidence out there," he said.

Apart from small cars, there were also increases in sales of four-wheel-drives, sports cars and luxury cars. But the promising figures are slightly misleading, because the car industry was already beginning to feel the effects of the economic slowdown last August.

Compared with August 2007, last month's sales were down 17 per cent.

Some states fared better than others, with NSW and Queensland sales on par with last year, while Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia recorded sizeable declines. Mr McKellar said the gradual improvement in the market was proof that the Government's economic stimulus measures had proved effective.

He rejected calls from some in the industry for a "cash for clunkers" scheme, similar to that launched by the US Government, to boost private demand. The scheme, which offers private buyers cash incentives to trade in old bombs, has stimulated demand in the US, with the recession-ravaged car market recording a small increase in sales during August.

"I would doubt very much whether there would be an appetite for it within Government," Mr McKellar said of the scheme. "There has been considerable stimulus to the Australian economy as a result of the strong measures already taken by the Government.

As a result, we have avoided the worst impact of the economic downturn. The car industry has been one of the major beneficiaries, we've done very well out of the stimulus package," he said.

The Government is offering small businesses tax breaks of up to 50 per cent for new vehicle purchases before December 31 and Mr McKellar believes this will provide added impetus to the market in the fourth quarter.

drive.com.au

[csv8]

August new car and truck sales fell 5.2 per cent, according to industry figures released on Thursday.

The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) said 73,287 new vehicles were retailed last month, down from 77,323 in the same month last year.

The result took demand to the end of August to 603,843, a 14.2 per cent fall compared to the same period in 2008.

The FCAI said Toyota was the top selling company last month with 15,994 vehicles ahead of Holden on 9,505 and Ford on 7,623.

Toyota also continued to lead the market year-to-date with 126,891 vehicles compared to 75,923 for Holden and 61,862 for Ford.

Sales of locally-made cars were down 20 per cent to the end of August while demand for imports had fallen 13.1 per cent.

[vztrt]

never mind, repost.

[vztrt]

Overall Brand sales.

http://www.caradvice.com.au/40080/ne...s-august-2009/

Top 5:

1 Toyota 15,994
2 Holden 9,505
3 Ford 7,623
4 Hyundai 5,980
5 Mazda 5,863

[RATT]

Ford 2009 v 2008

Ford Escape 5 128
Ford Fairlane 1 9
Ford Falcon 2,449 2,708
Ford Falcon Ute 878 1,302
Ford Fiesta 632 462
Ford Focus 1,097 1,018
Ford Focus Coupe Cabriolet 57 35
Ford Mondeo 357 498
Ford Ranger 4X2 398 587
Ford Ranger 4X4 631 571
Ford Territory 896 994
Ford Transit 189 226
Ford Transit Bus 10 35
Ford Transit C/C 23 28
Ford Total 7,623 8,603 (down 11.4%)

Holden

Holden Astra 232 1,615
Holden Astra Convertible 23 59
Holden Barina 804 669
Holden Caprice 123 101
Holden Captiva 1,031 645
Holden Colorado 4X2 352 369
Holden Colorado 4X4 608 367
Holden Combo 59 71
Holden Commodore 3,329 4,814
Holden Cruze 1,971 0 (!!!!!)
Holden Epica 148 277
Holden Statesman 21 186
Holden Utility 4X2 800 837
Holden Viva 4 388
Holden Total 9,505 10,698 (down 11.2%)

[Lightning Strike XR6]

Phenominal numbers by the cruze

[Steve]

This may have been answered before, but is the Commodore Ute included in the total Commodore sales or is that what they mean by Holden Utility?

[jatt]

So much for the revised Territory, even the Captiva outsold it...

[whales]

Originally Posted by jatt

So much for the revised Territory, even the Captiva outsold it...

If Ford ever needed a diesel engine for the Territory it is now.
It is killing them in sales by not having the diesel option,

[PepeLePew]

Not big numbers for Falcon but at least pretty stable year on year....nice drop in Commodore numbers.

[Carby]

Originally Posted by PepeLePew

Not big numbers for Falcon but at least pretty stable year on year....nice drop in Commodore numbers.

Figures don't look good to me - a lot of people would be holding off buying the Commodore with the new model coming out early this month.

[uranium_death]

The Cruze has done well.
I would say it's price is quite competitive...

The Mondeo is too close to the Falcon in price...it being a great car means nothing...

[snappy]

Originally Posted by whales

If Ford ever needed a diesel engine for the Territory it is now.
It is killing them in sales by not having the diesel option,

Ford need more then a diesel motor for the terri they need a time machine , With all the bad press it has recieved about ball joints and brake failures and is still recieving bad press too .
How could a somone buy a family car with those things hanging in the back of your mind . I know i wouldn't and you would have to like a gamble to buy one yourself.
I do know there has been fairly limited numbers that has recieved these problems but enough to make the car a failure.
My opionin is Ford need to drop the territory and build it a little different under a new name until they do this i doubt it will never sell well . To many people know its flaws

[Joe5619]

Ford nearly sold more local cars than Holden. Not too bad an effect IMO.

Ford 4,223 (2,449 + 878 + 896) down 15.6% from last year
Holden 4,273 (3,329 + 800 + 123 + 21) down 28.0% from last year.

Add the fact Holden are running 2 half teams (one week on, one week off at half pay) & Ford are running just the one full-time team... Ford has to be way out in front in dollar terms.. Surely!!

[PETE_XR6]

Toyota Corolla 3659
Holden Commodore 3329
Mazda3 2898
Ford Falcon 2449
Toyota Hilux 2327
Toyota Camry 2192
Mitsubishi Lancer 2171
Hyundai i30 2105
Holden Cruze 1971
Hyundai Getz 1868

[buggerlugs]

Is the Astra finished ? It seems that the Cruze took all it's numbers........

[ehast13]

Ugh! Holden's marketing team have done it again. Holden Cruze, for those who are dumb enough to..... agh, whatever.

Ticks me off too much

[flappist]

Originally Posted by PETE_XR6

What is last months figures looking like? and what will be Ford's excuse this month?

Apparently they have found that a number of people who state that they are Ford supporters and enthusiasts are never be satisfied with anything Ford do and constantly complain and nitpick about everything.

They are currently studying Holden enthusiasts to see if the fact that Holden enthusiasts talk up Holden products and the company regardless of how bad they are while Ford enthusiasts constantly talk down Ford products and the company regardless of how good they are has anything to Holden selling more than Ford......

[Windsor220]

Originally Posted by buggerlugs

Is the Astra finished ? It seems that the Cruze took all it's numbers........

Cruze is the Astra replacement so yep Astra is finished.

Will be interesting to see how Cruze does in the following months

[ltd]

Originally Posted by flappist

Apparently they have found that a number of people who state that they are Ford supporters and enthusiasts are never be satisfied with anything Ford do and constantly complain and nitpick about everything.

They are currently studying Holden enthusiasts to see if the fact that Holden enthusiasts talk up Holden products and the company regardless of how bad they are while Ford enthusiasts constantly talk down Ford products and the company regardless of how good they are has anything to Holden selling more than Ford......

Brilliant, love your work.

[XplosiveR6]

Not surprised about those cruze numbers, its obviously taken all the sales from Astra and quite abit from the Commodore too, all up they're sales are way down.

[landau460]

my friend worked at holden and they just closed the shop i remember my other mate nearly got a brand new commodore s ute through other friend after all the extras they were going to put on they were nearly six grand down the only reason my mate didnt get it was his credit was not so good and it fell through.
That friend from holden now works for NRMA

[ehast13]

I guess most of the Cruze figures are dealers registering them to have as demo's. At the moment it still has an air of 'Daewoo' about it. Maybe it won't be the success I hope it isn't

[buickman]

The Lancer is moving up the sales charts what is the go with Focus it competes with price but struggles in sales against the comp small cars!