MAZDA 3 Outsold Commodore in January!!!

[buggerlugs]

How can the Commodore ute sell more than the Falcon ute ?? Can't beleive that........

[5.4 GT]

Originally Posted by buggerlugs

How can the Commodore ute sell more than the Falcon ute ?? Can't beleive that........

Looks better?

[MR_SIDO]

just letting you guys know that while these results are pathetic there are a few reasons why. The biggest reason is Ford Motor Company only started back producing cars on the 20th of January, this meant that alot of orders that were taken in December and January are only just being finished now.

I have 2 G6E's on order that I ordered Mid december that have only just been finished in the factory. These vehicles do not get reported sold until they are delivered to the customer, these 2 vehicles will go into February figures.

There are alot more dealers in this situation, the dealers are not carrying as much stock as they were late last year either which means that their working stock level is low therefore lowering sales slightly (this would not impact greatly but its worth mentioning)

It is a well known fact in the car industry that you may as well write off January as a new car selling month as it is damn near impossible to get your 09 stock quick enough. Many dealers are getting to a reasonable stock level now and are ordering 09 stock, so before you write us off completely, wait for Feb's figures before you pass judgement.

I am not saying that Feb is going to be the best month ever, Ford Motor Company clearly have a lot of work to do, but I am confident that with the forward orders that we are holding (and other dealers for that matter) we are not in that bad a shape for the current market conditions.

Anxiously awaiting February results............

[Smoke Pursuit]

Originally Posted by 5.4 GT

Looks better?

No because holden were doing SV6s for 29 grand drive away... in manual form..

Cheapest XR6 u will get is $33....

Plus holden also did Big bonuses on V8.

[GTP290]

Dont forget its not how many units you sell, its how much profit you make. Fords base model Falcon is around 6k dearer than the Commodore, so its no suprise Holdens parent company-GM is in a worse financial state than Ford.

[Gobes32]

If we start pumping out cheap cars then they won't be worth anything when you trade it in. Isn't this the one thing about large aussie cars we all loathe? Also, if you paid 35k for a base model VE at the start of last year and then your next door neighbour scored a SV6 for under 30k drive away, would that not pee you off something shocking?

[BadMac]

Originally Posted by BadMac

Finally to help when the figures come out, here is the Jan 2008 result.
1. Toyota Corolla - 3,843
2. Holden Commodore - 3,210
3. Toyota Hilux Ute - 3,020
4. Mazda 3 - 2,015
5. Toyota Yaris - 2,433
6. Ford Focus - 1,823
7. Honda Civic - 1,777
8. Honda CR-V SUV - 1,575
9. Mazda 2 - 1,442
10. Mitsubishi Lancer - 1,410

Jan 2009.
1. Mazda 3 – 3124
2. Holden Commodore – 3059
4. Toyota Corolla – 2763
5. Toyota HiLux - 2620
6. Ford Falcon – 1630
7. Mitsubishi Lancer – 1625
8. Toyota Yaris – 1565
9. Honda Jazz – 1480
10. Hyundai Getz – 1347

[Dr Smith]

Originally Posted by bfiipursuit

As for the Territory well what do you expect from a car that is visually the same as it was 5 years ago? They havent even updated the wheels for christ sake!

I can feel your heat..it burns me too, only bonus is I went the G6ET...it's gunna be hard to switch back in 2.5 yrs.

[RATT]

Originally Posted by BadMac

Jan 2009.
1. Mazda 3 – 3124
2. Holden Commodore – 3059
4. Toyota Corolla – 2763
5. Toyota HiLux - 2620
6. Ford Falcon – 1630
7. Mitsubishi Lancer – 1625
8. Toyota Yaris – 1565
9. Honda Jazz – 1480
10. Hyundai Getz – 1347

On a positive note, Falcon is in the top ten in Jan 09 vs 08.

[Dr Smith]

Originally Posted by BadMac

Your kidding right?

Falcon is up 400 units. Jan 08 was BFII on runout (ie stalled sales), Jan 09 is FG in full production and it can only do 400 units better? thats not good news, thats an obituary.

Holden down 15% wasn't the point, the story was how Mazda3 is number 1, why does everything have to bash Holden, oh thats right its a Ford forum and thats what we do. By the way, the article says overall market down 18% and Holden down 15% so actually Holden was 3% better off than its competition. Given Hyundai and Mazda increased, its gunna be sad for some of the others.

Finally to help when the figures come out, here is the Jan 2008 result.
1. Toyota Corolla - 3,843
2. Holden Commodore - 3,210
3. Toyota Hilux Ute - 3,020
4. Mazda 3 - 2,015
5. Toyota Yaris - 2,433
6. Ford Focus - 1,823
7. Honda Civic - 1,777
8. Honda CR-V SUV - 1,575
9. Mazda 2 - 1,442
10. Mitsubishi Lancer - 1,410

Actually the first version of the drive article didn't mention that Commodore was outsold, this came later when the official figures came out and the story was modified. The initial bent was clearly a negative view of Ford, it was only after the real figures showed that Mazda3 topped all cars that some of the lines were rewritten....see an LS1 thread which discusses the same thing. And if Holden couldn't maintain some market share with the massive bonuses that even required increasing of Holden employee discounts because private buyer deals got down to that level then they were never going to make it. Wonder how much red ink they will show and if it was worth it in the end?

[Gobes32]

It's depressing that a car as good as the FG will never receive the sales it deserves. It's even worse that the VE continually outsells it by an embarrassing margin. The Ford OZ engineers must shake their heads in amazement that a car so critically acclaimed for it's power and handling is continually outsold by a poorly engineered car like the Commodore.

I fully understand the Mazda 3 winning the sales race, have never driven one but I imagine they would be up to Mazda's usual high standards. My sister in law drives an '08 Corolla and they are a nice little car, boring but cheap to own and does not offer any trouble to her.

Both of the above cars are cheap to purchase and offer cheap servicing and good re-sale. And in today's economic situation, they represent a very smart purchasing option. But why o why do people still purchase the VE in such high numbers? It is under engineered, thirsty, under powered (in V6 guise) and the interior is already dated. And how on earth do Holden retain such ardent supporters? Down at AFF we are continually shooting down Ford for one reason or another, yet Holden could release a 4 cyl Commodore and the fans will still lap it up (VC anyone?). Ford release the FG and because it does not have the GT40 motor, awd, sip 5.5ltrs/100km and cost less than $20K, it is a failure. We are very hard on Ford OZ and maybe that forces them to strive for the heights they reach. But they also need our support, and at the moment they really aren't getting it.

[buickman]

[QUOTE=RATT]Ford 2009 v 2008
Ford Escape 58 172
Ford F250 4X2 2 2
Ford Fairlane 3 21
Ford Falcon 1,630 1,252
Ford Falcon Ute 522 664
Ford Fiesta 560 731
Ford Focus 1,346 1,823
Ford Focus Coupe Cabriolet 30 37
Ford Mondeo 317 369
Ford Ranger 4X2 359 734 359
Ford Ranger 4X4 424 578
Ford Territory 638 1,099
Ford Transit 100 164
Ford Transit Bus 6 6
Ford Transit C/C 25 19
Ford Total 6,020 7,676 (down 21.6%)



Mazda3 3,124 2,915


The Focus and Feista were down on sales from 2008 but Mazda 3 sales were up.

You wonder if the Laser name and Japan sourced cars based on the Mazda 3 would have had better sales results than the South African, Europe sourced cars.

[Pedro]

Originally Posted by BlackLS

Oh yeah keep in mind the Mazda 3 is very discounted, new model is about to be released.

Actually they're not price discounted at all. The sell outs are value added.
Mazda is mindful of resale values.

[DanielXR8]

[QUOTE=buickman]

Originally Posted by RATT

Ford 2009 v 2008
Ford Escape 58 172
Ford F250 4X2 2 2
Ford Fairlane 3 21
Ford Falcon 1,630 1,252
Ford Falcon Ute 522 664
Ford Fiesta 560 731
Ford Focus 1,346 1,823
Ford Focus Coupe Cabriolet 30 37
Ford Mondeo 317 369
Ford Ranger 4X2 359 734 359
Ford Ranger 4X4 424 578
Ford Territory 638 1,099
Ford Transit 100 164
Ford Transit Bus 6 6
Ford Transit C/C 25 19
Ford Total 6,020 7,676 (down 21.6%)



Mazda3 3,124 2,915


The Focus and Feista were down on sales from 2008 but Mazda 3 sales were up.

You wonder if the Laser name and Japan sourced cars based on the Mazda 3 would have had better sales results than the South African, Europe sourced cars.

Honestly Buickman with the current dealer network they are doing as well as can be expected. The day must come soon, when Ford Aust realises the current dealer network has to go, or they are facing import only status and never being in the top five brands for Australia.

A great car sold by a lousy dealer is still a bad buy for most people.

Dan

[Rodp]

Originally Posted by Gobes32

It's depressing that a car as good as the FG will never receive the sales it deserves. It's even worse that the VE continually outsells it by an embarrassing margin. The Ford OZ engineers must shake their heads in amazement that a car so critically acclaimed for it's power and handling is continually outsold by a poorly engineered car like the Commodore.

How much of that is due to aggressive discounting though?

[Wretched]

not long now till the Focus outsells the Falcon ;)

[jphanna]

The aussie car buying public have a habit of making car makers pay for their mistakes. Is it a coincidence that after holden’s one small car disaster, (CAMIRA) that for the next 8 years the LAZER kicked azz and of course this was the heady days of 23% market leadership that Ford enjoyed when the XF was king. The EA was Fords big car mistake (you know what happened here) then just when the smoke from the EA legacy died down though improvements with the subsequent models….the AU came along and once again the public and fleet buyers got fried alive with crap resale values. The BA/BF got the aussie public confidence back but the $1.60 petrol prices were around just when the FG hit town then of course the GEC hit not long after that so Ford was a victim of unbelieveable bad luck here. Then of course you have wheels shafting it in the ‘car of the year’ award. Did any commodore variant miss winning the ‘wheels car of the year’…didn’t think so.

[Wally]

Originally Posted by BadMac

Your kidding right?

Falcon is up 400 units. Jan 08 was BFII on runout (ie stalled sales), Jan 09 is FG in full production and it can only do 400 units better? thats not good news, thats an obituary.

Holden down 15% wasn't the point, the story was how Mazda3 is number 1, why does everything have to bash Holden, oh thats right its a Ford forum and thats what we do. By the way, the article says overall market down 18% and Holden down 15% so actually Holden was 3% better off than its competition. Given Hyundai and Mazda increased, its gunna be sad for some of the others.

Finally to help when the figures come out, here is the Jan 2008 result.
1. Toyota Corolla - 3,843
2. Holden Commodore - 3,210
3. Toyota Hilux Ute - 3,020
4. Mazda 3 - 2,015
5. Toyota Yaris - 2,433
6. Ford Focus - 1,823
7. Honda Civic - 1,777
8. Honda CR-V SUV - 1,575
9. Mazda 2 - 1,442
10. Mitsubishi Lancer - 1,410

How do those figures refelct the Mazda 3 out selling the Commodore?

[RATT]

That was last years figures BadMac has put up.

Also, declining market going up instead of down is abit of good news in the poor overall figures.

[Wally]

Damnit, it's 2009 ? !!! I'm getting too old for this.

[Swordsman88]

on first thought this looks almost unexplainable that ford could have such a bad month (yes even january is not this bad for ford usually). However, on closer inspection you can start to see why.

Ford has very little falcon stock, and broadmeadows didn't start with new cars until late january. Floor stock was very low. One woudl think falcon ute is fleet affected as well (no fleets buy in january).

Fiesta was in run out, new fiesta didn't even turn up at my local dealership until last week of january. Focus is now in run out, new models on the boat. Territory is old stock only, new territory 8 weeks away at most, so only building to order the current one (maybe not even any 'old' territories coming out of broadmeadows at all this year????)

Aside from cashback deals on 2008 floor stock ford has had no incentives up. Negative in terms of bad january sales, but positive for low stock levels going into 2009. Given import prices will rise for sure in 09 i think Ford should do much better with falcon then otherwise.

Bad result, yes, bad business, we'll see. We woudl all like to see plenty of fords sold (given the quality of the line up its a disgrace sales are this bad) particularly local models, but you have to think longer term. 2009 will be a big year for ford in terms of the performanc of the entire line up, and in terms of profits. One this is for sure, Holden might have sold nearly twice as many commdores as falcons, but i bet they made hardly any more profit than ford. I've never seen commodores go so cheap.

[colossus]

Originally Posted by Gobes32

Both of the above cars are cheap to purchase and offer cheap servicing and good re-sale. And in today's economic situation, they represent a very smart purchasing option. But why o why do people still purchase the VE in such high numbers? It is under engineered, thirsty, under powered (in V6 guise) and the interior is already dated. And how on earth do Holden retain such ardent supporters?

The VAST majority of Commodore sales are fleet and government sales - not many private sales in there unlike Mazda 3 which is mostly private sales. These fleet sales normally go to the lowest bidder = Holden. Fords fleet pricing is higher. Also you'll find even though there is a trend to imports many government departments still have an Australian made policy only (e.g. many local councils) = inflated Commodore sales.

[Joe5619]

Does anyone know the difference in price AT FLEET/GOV'T level between the Comm & the Falcon?

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by Wretched

not long now till the Focus outsells the Falcon ;)

Doesn't matter as the Focus will be built here.

Oh when the plant was shut down for most of DEC and JAN then I doubt your gonna sell much.

[Gobes32]

Not an expert at this but am sure Territory will be build-to-order this year, i.e We don't just pump them out we only build what is sold. Until the new update arrives. Same goes for XR8 and wagon, we only build what we sell.

[Gobes32]

Originally Posted by colossus

The VAST majority of Commodore sales are fleet and government sales - not many private sales in there unlike Mazda 3 which is mostly private sales. These fleet sales normally go to the lowest bidder = Holden. Fords fleet pricing is higher. Also you'll find even though there is a trend to imports many government departments still have an Australian made policy only (e.g. many local councils) = inflated Commodore sales.

Very well explained.

Makes you wonder what a VE will be worth in 5 years? I am not suggesting that FG is going to achieve record trade in values, but there is a lot of VE's been sold at what would appear to be at a low cost.

[russellw]

The current graphical representation of the numbers is HERE along with the supplementary data which can be found HERE.

Cheers
Russ

[bathurst77]

Big ups for that info russellw. well done

It a very worrying sobering read tho. It really shows how our car makers really have fallen away last 10 years.

back in 00-02 combined falcon commodore sales could be up to 15,000 or more a month, and you could throw in another thousand for LWB. Commodore alone broke 9,000 some months.. now they add up to about 7,000.

Also shows back in the unloved AU days commodore:falcon sales ratio was about 65: 35. BA brought it back to 55:45 or closer, now its back to AU levels, but on much smaller numbers. 4,000 -5,000 AUs was a disaster. now either ford or holden would be giving free drinks and call girls if they could sell that many.

You can also see the continued fall away in large cars as a segment over last 5 years.
Im 03 it was the biggest selling segment now its 3rd best maybe fourth soon. Combine that fact with the fact that Falcons and commodores had a greater profit per car for the factory and dealers than the mediium and smaller cars do, and you can see the worry.

Territory used to be good for 1,500 - 2,000 sales. now its only half that, with cklugar wiping its bum and even craptiva outselling it. Territory sooo needs facelift new interior and marketing push.

Interesting that the (imported) Mondeo has never reached the 500 per month level they asked for. It seems to burble around 400.

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by Gobes32

Not an expert at this but am sure Territory will be build-to-order this year, i.e We don't just pump them out we only build what is sold. Until the new update arrives. Same goes for XR8 and wagon, we only build what we sell.

I thought most of the models from FoA will go down this road?

[Road_Warrior]

Originally Posted by colossus

The VAST majority of Commodore sales are fleet and government sales - not many private sales in there unlike Mazda 3 which is mostly private sales. These fleet sales normally go to the lowest bidder = Holden. Fords fleet pricing is higher. Also you'll find even though there is a trend to imports many government departments still have an Australian made policy only (e.g. many local councils) = inflated Commodore sales.

I work for a Government department and there is not one single Commodore or Falcon in the motor pool. Camrys, Corollas and the odd Lancer or Impreza here and there. There is also a Pri-**** in there somewhere too.

And looking out into the car park (several departments share the one car park) I can see 1 FG, and a BF wagon. No Commodores at all.

Local council's are the same, only CEO's and Directors are allowed to have large sedans, at least that was the way at the LG I worked at, the rest of it all was made up with Camrys Corollas and Hiluxes. IMO the 'buy Australian first' policy went out the window when petrol prices skyrocketed a year or two ago.

Make no mistake, when that Camry Hybrid comes on stream in Australia, Government departments and Councils will be falling overthemselves to buy it and govt fleets will comprise of almost nothing but them.