Where's the VFACTS?

[Ford_Crazy]

usually up by now aint it?

[Dave_au]

Checkout http://wheels.carpoint.ninemsn.com.a...Alias=wheelsau

Its not good - Corolla whipped VE Commodore (okay maybe not Wipped, but the rolla is a 2 year old model vs a brand new car of the year) - first time ever? Falcon is gawnskis. If you combine Aurion and Camry as the one model, its way ahead of Falcon at the moment.

Big four are up the creek without the proverbial paddle in January:
Corolla 3485
Commodore 3474
Mazda 3 3347
Yaris 2498
Falcon 1973
Barina 1563
Camry 1343
Honda Jazz 1261
Aurion 1125
Mazda 6 1107
380 1041
Honda Jazz 1261
Hyundai Getz 1028
Honda Accord Euro 831

Dont know lancer yet sorry.

Terry sold 1300 units so there is a bit of sunshine in Geelong.


Motor Vehicle Sales Fast Start to the Year
5 Feb, 2007

The Australian automotive industry has made a storming start to 2007, notching up record sales in January.

Official VFACTS figures released today by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) show that 76,936 new cars, trucks and buses were sold last month – an increase of 6933 or 9.9 per cent on the record for the month set in January 2006.

Most of the increase was due to a continued boom in the popularity of small and light cars.

Small car sales were up 4105 or 26.3 per cent and Light cars up 1303 or 14.3 per cent.

"This is a long-term trend beyond petrol price volatility, part of a fundamental shift in consumer preferences that's been gathering momentum for a couple of years," said the Chief Executive of the FCAI, Peter Sturrock.

In line with the trend, Toyota's Corolla small car was Australia's most popular vehicle in January with 3485 sales, narrowly ahead of Holden's Commodore large car with 3474.

Conversely, the January market saw strong performances in the family vehicle sectors of SUV Medium and Large car.

Medium SUV sales rose 746 vehicles or 17.24 per cent, while Large car sales levelled out after last year's decline – down just 81 vehicles or 0.9 per cent.

"The reduction in petrol prices in December and January played a part in better sales of family sedans and wagons, but equally significant was new model activity in both segments," said Peter Sturrock.

Mr Sturrock said January motor vehicle sales were consistent with bullish consumer sentiment evident in record Christmas and post-Christmas retail sales.

While a 10 per cent sales increase spread across the year would see motor vehicle sales top the million mark for the first time, the FCAI is forecasting sales of 970,000 in 2007.

A total of 962,666 vehicles were sold in Australia in 2006 – a 2.5 per cent fall on the all-time record of 988,269 set in 2005.

Toyota was the bestselling brand in January with 16,238 sales, ahead of Holden (11,258), Ford (7501).

In fourth place was a surging Mazda with 6627 sales, up 23.1 per cent on January 2005.

Also enjoying big sales increases were sixth-placed Nissan, which rose 25.1 per cent and seventh-placed Mitsubishi with an increase of 26.8 per cent.

The top 10 market leaders in motor vehicle sales in January 2007:

Toyota - 16,238 sales

Holden - 11,258

Ford - 7501

Mazda - 6627

Honda - 5435

Nissan - 5085

Mitsubishi - 4554

Subaru - 3097

Hyundai - 3067

Volkswagen - 2034

[XR Martin]

Ford is about to be over taken by sole import companies. Not good at all.

[uranium_death]

Originally Posted by XR6 Martin

Ford is about to be over taken by sole import companies. Not good at all.

This government doesn't do enough for home built products.

There should be a quota on imports.

Looking at those facts though, IMO the Corolla is a tragic car. Mechanically great, but in every other aspect, it's crap. Get a Focus, Astra or 3.

Or better yet, get a Falcon and support the most Australian brand on the market.

[ED Classic]

Amazes me how this Barina sells that many. A 1 star crash rating I think??

[Aussie Falcon]

Front page story on the Telegraph won't help matters much:

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegrap...007132,00.html

POLITICIANS who live within 3km of Parliament House are thumbing their noses at climate change and are being ferried to and from work in petrol-guzzling cars. / The Daily Telegraph

[robs_ls1]

Originally Posted by Aussie Falcon

Front page story on the Telegraph won't help matters much:

Why not? From what I can see, there are only Fairlanes and Statesmans in that photo. There certainly aren't any imports there.

[charles_wif_xf]

Originally Posted by uranium_death

This government doesn't do enough for home built products.

There should be a quota on imports.

Looking at those facts though, IMO the Corolla is a tragic car. Mechanically great, but in every other aspect, it's crap. Get a Focus, Astra or 3.

Or better yet, get a Falcon and support the most Australian brand on the market.

Not only a quota, but tariffs should be raised to prior levels.

[Mark351]

What the hell happened to Focus/Fiesta sales? We miss a boat load or something?

[robs_ls1]

Originally Posted by DeathXR

What the hell happened to Focus/Fiesta sales?

Two words: Korean Barina....

It seems that lots of people put price before quality. :

This is also confirmed by Yaris sales. :

[uranium_death]

Originally Posted by robs_ls1

Two words: Korean Barina....

It seems that lots of people put price before quality. :

This is also confirmed by Yaris sales. :

My beef with buyers is that people don't research. Mummies and Daddies go looking for a new small car for their little girl, they think, "oh, the Barina is as good as any." They don't understand that it is the most dangerous car in its class to the passenger. The car is inferior in every way.

The Yaris is ok. But I see Toyota as being a car with a good reputation, but not fun cars. Although I will say that the new Camry and Aurion have done a hell of a good job at fixing Toyota's drab image.

But the Corolla...FFS! You should enjoy driving! A Focus or Astra will go a long way to ensure that you don't turn to stone behind the wheel.

[robs_ls1]

Originally Posted by uranium_death

But the Corolla...FFS! You should enjoy driving! A Focus or Astra will go a long way to ensure that you don't turn to stone behind the wheel.

Don't be knockin' the Corolla. In manual "Sportivo" form they are a fantastic car, but apart from that, we're back to price.

The cheapest Corolla is $1000 cheaper than the cheapest Focus and $2000 cheaper than the cheapest Astra. At that end of the market, we're talking 5% and 10%, respectively. These are not insignificant amounts.

[Dave_au]

Corolla is a fine car but from all reports it's got a pretty average driving position and the engine, although good, doesnt really suit the transmission in the auto models.

But this is the sort of stuff many of the Corolla buyers would be oblivious too anyway.

[rst2000]

no wonder ford are cold calling on those deplorable figures..anyone else had ford call them trying to entice a overnight drive on the mk11 falcon range.

[Franky]

The barina should not be sold until it's crash rating is up to scratch, considering that most drivers are 18-24 that is a huge risk to have that car on our roads.

So although small cars are up the focus is way down? that is a huge worry, also Territory will be outselling Falcon soon something that many people said would never happen

[Franky]

Also January is a bad month for locals for some reason, I'm pretty sure the same thing happed the last couple of years

[Smoke Pursuit]

Sales are usually tough in January as theres a shortage of stock from Christmas / new year but at the same time theres big discounts so you would think there would be more out there to buy.

Fords having a bad time again, seems like they need something more in the small car lineup.

[csv8]

Originally Posted by LSTerritoryGhia

Sales are usually tough in January as theres a shortage of stock from Christmas / new year but at the same time theres big discounts so you would think there would be more out there to buy.

Fords having a bad time again, seems like they need something more in the small car lineup.

How about this ?

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[DanielXR8]

Originally Posted by uranium_death

This government doesn't do enough for home built products.

There should be a quota on imports.

Looking at those facts though, IMO the Corolla is a tragic car. Mechanically great, but in every other aspect, it's crap. Get a Focus, Astra or 3.

Or better yet, get a Falcon and support the most Australian brand on the market.

The government would do better to make companies like Ford more liable for the lemons they sometimes hoist on customers and don't want back. Thats aside from the customer service issues that Ford should be addressing, but pretends isnt a problem. As someone who just traded in a GT for a Japanese built car, I can assure you it's not just petrol prices that is causing this trend.

Dan

[MR_SIDO]

Ford sold more cars in JAN 07 than they did in JAN 06

[DanielXR8]

Originally Posted by MR_SIDO

Ford sold more cars in JAN 07 than they did in JAN 06

By a handful and the local and very profitable Falcon tanked. Not a good month by any realistic measure.

[Focused]

Where's Falcon Freak? Did Ford shut him up?

[Homer1]

Originally Posted by DanielXR8

The government would do better to make companies like Ford more liable for the lemons they sometimes hoist on customers and don't want back. Thats aside from the customer service issues that Ford should be addressing, but pretends isnt a problem. As someone who just traded in a GT for a Japanese built car, I can assure you it's not just petrol prices that is causing this trend.

Dan

I agree. Increasing tariffs will only make Ford and Holden complacent and go back to making mediocre garbage. The lowering of tariffs should be a wake up call for them to wake up and start to develop and build efficient, high tech, QUALITY cars....something which is 2nd nature to Japanese and German manufacturers. The VE is a step in the right direction as will the Orion, so why increase tariffs??

An example of this is Proton in Malaysia. The Malaysian Govt has a tariff of something like 300% on imported cars so that the cost of buying a Corolla there is the same as a Benz here. The result we can see ourselves with the kind of travesty Proton churns out. So IMO, there should be no increase in tariffs but more incentives (and competition) for the local industry to develop better cars.

[Gobes32]

The Falcon and Territory are old designs now and the fact that Ford can still shift cars even though there is an all new Commodore, Magna and Toyota sedan on the market is optimistic for Ford Australia's future. From memory the Falcon has maintained its percentage of the large car market its just that the large car segment has decreased in size the last few years. However with new product comes renewed interest as people realize you cant fit 2 adults, 3 kids and a rottweiler in a Corolla!

[robs_ls1]

Originally Posted by marco351

Where's Falcon Freak? Did Ford shut him up?

He saw the sales figures and falcon freaked...
:
sorry, I couldn't resist

Originally Posted by acosta32

However with new product comes renewed interest as people realize you cant fit 2 adults, 3 kids and a rottweiler in a Corolla!

If the rottweiler is a pup and the kids are all under 5, they'll fit no worries. Seriously, though, my wife is 1 of 3 kids. They grew up being driven around in their Dad's Datsun 180B. It wasn't until the youngest one was 18 that their Dad bought a new car.

[new2ford]

Originally Posted by acosta32

The Falcon and Territory are old designs now

So old that Holden has only just caught up with Falcon and NOBODY has caught up with Territory. The likes of Prado, Kluger, Pajero, Jeep etc are old designs but obviously many people don't buy cars just because its a modern design. Prado is still a strong seller even though it's mostly 1960s technology.

[Gobes32]

I don't mean they are old in a derogatory way, they are not new designs. The Falcon is effectively 5 years old and the Territory 3. Anyone who was genuinely excited by the design would have bought a vehicle by now.