VFACTS December: Holden Astra stuns, hits #2

As you can read here, Australia’s automotive peak body claimed to have recorded the highest ever annual sales tally in 2017, eclipsing the record from the year before.

Here we look at the results specific to December, always an interesting month where some brands register vehicles later to be sold as demonstrators – bids to meet annual targets.

In fact, there’s usually one bolter in December.

This time it was the Holden Astra, which had its best month in many, many years and stormed to second on the charts, with 3533 ‘sales’. Only the Toyota HiLux beat it. Holden as a brand had a monster month, with the Colorado in fourth spot on 3222 units (almost level with the Ford Ranger).

All told, SUVs grabbed 39.3 per cent market share for the month, ahead of passenger cars on 35.7 and light commercials on 21.6 – meaning more than one-in-five vehicles sold new last month was a ute or van.

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Top brands December 2017

BRAND	SALES	CHANGE OVER ‘16
Toyota	17,081	Down 14.3%
Holden	12,179	Up 57.7%
Mazda	9102	Down 6.8%
Mitsubishi	9019	Up 33.6%
Hyundai	6182	Down 12.3%
Ford	5636	Down 12.8%
Volkswagen	5136	Up 12.5%
Honda	5041	Up 19.2%
Nissan	4581	Down 9.7%
Subaru	4132	Up 5.7%
Kia	4007	Up 20.9%
Mercedes-Benz	3385	Up 0.4%
Isuzu Ute	2936	Up 12.7%
Audi	2073	Down 6.9%
Suzuki	1631	Up 0.2%
Land Rover	1445	Up 25.4%
BMW	1302	Down 16.8%
Renault	808	Up 14%
Jeep	731	Down 19.6%
Peugeot	541	Up 236%

Positions 21-25 were:

Lexus on 534, Volvo Car on 400, Skoda on 322, Mini on 267 and LDV on 265.

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Top models December 2017

The Toyota HiLux occupied its normal position at the top of the charts, one of four utes inside the top six overall. Two small cars sat amongst them, the Astra (we suspect there’ll be some demos to be found, now) and the Mazda 3.

Rounding out the top 20 were the Toyota Corolla (it still finished the year as the #1 passenger car), Holden Commodore, cut-price Mitsubishi ASX, Mazda CX-5, Isuzu D-Max (another ute), Toyota RAV4, Volkswagen Golf, Nissan X-Trail, Honda Civic, Toyota Prado, Nissan Navara, and a pair of Hyundais in the i30 and Tucson (usually way higher but the company is keeping its powder dry for 2018, clearly).

A pair of regular top 10 cars, the Mazda CX-3 and Toyota Camry (now to be imported) were 21 and 22.

MODEL	SALES	CHANGE OVER ‘16
Toyota HiLux	3949	Down 3.4%
Holden Astra	3533	Up 2179.4% (not a typo)
Ford Ranger	3458	Up 2.7%
Holden Colorado	3222	Up 165.6%
Mazda 3	2807	Down 10.6%
Mitsubishi Triton	2645	Up 25.6%
Toyota Corolla	2641	Down 9.8%
Holden Commodore	2229	Up 4.6%
Mitsubishi ASX	2128	Up 43.3%
Mazda CX-5	2113	Up 10.9%
Isuzu D-Max	2053	Up 8.6%
Toyota RAV4	1823	Up 21.9%
Volkswagen Golf	1759	Up 11.4%
Nissan X-Trail	1737	Down 6.5%
Honda Civic	1725	Up 64.4%
Toyota Prado	1590	Up 32.8%
Mitsubishi Outlander	1486	Up 31.5%
Nissan Navara	1480	Up 33.4%
Hyundai i30	1467	Down 48.3%
Hyundai Tucson	1306	Down 5.6%

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Key segments for December:

Micro cars:

1. Kia Picanto: 294
2. Mitsubishi Mirage: 228
3. Holden Spark: 129

Light cars:

1. Hyundai Accent: 1023
2. Toyota Yaris: 858
3. Mazda 2: 847

Small cars:

1. Holden Astra: 3532
2. Mazda 3: 2807
3. Toyota Corolla: 2641

Medium Cars:

1. Toyota Camry: 1209
2. Mercedes-Benz C-Class: 644
3. Mazda 6: 366

Large Cars:

1. Holden Commodore: 2229
2. Kia Stinger: 130
3. Mercedes-Benz E-Class: 130

People Movers:

1. Kia Carnival: 472
2. Honda Odyssey: 172
3. Volkswagen Multivan: 131

Sports Cars:

1. Ford Mustang: 451
2. Mercedes-Benz C-Class two-door: 164
3. Audi A5: 105

Small SUV under $40k:

1. Mitsubishi ASX: 2128
2. Mazda CX-3: 1286
3. Subaru XV: 1096

Small SUV over $40k:

1. Mercedes-Benz GLA: 259
2. Audi Q2: 218
3. BMW X1: 182

Medium SUV under $60k:

1. Mazda CX-5: 2113
2. Toyota RAV4: 1823
3. Nissan X-Trail: 1737

Medium SUV over $60k:

1. Mercedes-Benz GLC: 460 (excluding coupe)
2. Land Rover Discovery Sport: 455
3. Audi Q5: 410

Large SUV under $70k:

1. Toyota Prado: 1590
2. Mitsubishi Pajero Sport: 1164 (!)
3. Toyota Kluger: 1114

Large SUV over $70k:

1. Range Rover Sport: 298
2. Land Rover Discovery: 204
3. BMW X5: 186

Upper Large SUV:

1. Toyota LandCruiser 200 Series: 1021
2. Nissan Patrol: 63
3. Mercedes-Benz GLS: 53

Vans:

1. Toyota HiAce: 578
2. Volkswagen Caddy: 397
3. Hyundai iLoad: 309

Utes:

1. Toyota HiLux: 3949
2. Ford Ranger: 3458
3. Mitsubishi Triton: 2645

MORE: New car sales news coverage

Any questions? Ask below and I’ll answer them as soon as I’m at the desk.