vFacts December 2005 & 2005 year summary

Falcon Freak · 02-01-2006, 11:49 AM

The sales figures will be released towards the end of this week for December 2005. What will they reveal?

November was an interesting month as the Holden discounts didn't have the expected impact. Will sales of the new BF model continue on the strong start? Will the 380 continue to sell woefully?

RATT - you usually get the Ford numbers in advance. What have you heard?

FF

Lagom · 02-01-2006, 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Falcon Freak

The sales figures will be released towards the end of this week for December 2005. What will they reveal?

I suspect we might fall a little short of the 1,000,000 vehicles figure for 2005 - 91,008 vehicles would have to be sold in Dec to make that and that's a big task.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Falcon Freak

November was an interesting month as the Holden discounts didn't have the expected impact. Will sales of the new BF model continue on the strong start? Will the 380 continue to sell woefully?

I'd like to see the 380's sales for Feb/Mar to get a good picture on how the car will do - by then the excuses about fleets (which basically buy most cars in the large segment) waiting for 06 plated cars will no longer hold water. I'm sure they wish that they launched the base car at a lower price - on current volumes though, the higher end models proportionally (in terms of the sales mix) are ahead of their initial targets, IIRC.

Bottom line is the Aussie manufacturers have had fairly high stock levels and even as a Ford fan here, I hope the VE really stimulates interest back in large cars (new Camry/Avalon are due in the not too distant future aswell) - people cross shopping for large cars brings more sales opportunties for the Falcon. I wouldn't be surprised if Falcon sales (certainly private sales, and overall if you compare Falcon platform to Commodore platform vehicles) surpass Commodore sales sometime prior to the VE for a moment, as that gap has closed in recent times (even though Holden has been throwing some fairly fat discounts around) - Commodore's main advantage has been in fleet sales, which is where most of the large segment's sales are anyway.

If the large segment doesn't wake up next year - the future for large Aussie cars probably isn't super bright. At least petrol prices have stabilised at lower levels than they were around September last year, plus people will gradually adjust to their levels.

02-01-2006, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Falcon Freak

RATT - you usually get the Ford numbers in advance. What have you heard?

FF

Been off for the last two weeks so I won't know till I read it here.

phillyc · 02-01-2006, 07:22 PM

The gap narrowed in November once again between VZ2 (5278) and BF(5064)

If you add the Territory's sales of 2224 and you'll find that Ford is already selling far more Falcon platform based models than Holden is Commodore based.

The rumour mill also has it that the V8 Adventra will be dropped too (not worth re-engineering for the new v8)

I believe that the market is beginning to understand the general sophistication offered by the Falcon compared to the Commodore. Part of this recognition of excellent product is the award winning Territory.

Most reviews have put the Falcon based stuff around the 4.0 to 4.5 stars versus 2.5 to 4.0 too. Even Josh Dowling from the Drive (SMH) who normally bags the Falcon for as long as i can recall has praised the BF!

IMO next year we will find that the Falcon will actually win a few months!

Redrum · 02-01-2006, 07:23 PM

I read the Holden One Tonner Ute also getting dropped!!

Lagom · 02-01-2006, 09:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phillyc

IMO next year we will find that the Falcon will actually win a few months!

Wouldn't surprise me, given that some will hold off buying Commodores in anticipation of the VE.

Lagom · 02-01-2006, 09:35 PM

Comparing Falcon platform to Commodore platform sales (Large/SUV/Ute), Falcon's advantage in November was just over 1100 units for the month.

10-01-2006, 06:15 PM

Dec 05

Large passenger

Commodore 4,470
Falcon 3,537
Camry 1,667
380 947

4x2 P/U & C/C

Falcon ute 1,673
Commodore ute 1,643
Hilux 1,451

Small Car

Corolla 3,584
Mazda3 2,271
Pulsar 1,801
Focus 999 (not actually 4th best)

Light Segment:

Yaris 1,463
Barina 1,056
Getz 1,038
Fiesta 460 (7th)

SUV:

Territory 2,203
Prado 1,611
Kluger 516

And finally my favourite figures for the month:

FPV (GT, GT-P, F6 Typhoon)
158
HSV (Clubsport, R8, Senator)
156

Bad points:

- Explorer sold only 11 units
- Large passenger segment down 26.1% on Dec 05.

Total sales for 2005 = 988,269 units.

Falcon Freak · 10-01-2006, 06:56 PM

Thanks RATT. I am very disappointed in the BF Falcon's performance. Outsold by 933 cars when the gap was only 250 odd in November. I would have thought that once word had spread about the BF that the sales would increase and maybe it would outsell the VZ.

FF

Deadman · 10-01-2006, 07:16 PM

It's also disapointing to see the Focus & Fiesta figures. They are much better cars than that...

380 results also disapointing... It's a decent car. :( Ah well...

Sagerian · 10-01-2006, 07:21 PM

Hard to believe Camry outsold the 380...

Grruf

Smoke Pursuit · 10-01-2006, 07:28 PM

Marketing...

Fords marketing is hopeless and always has been, added with the fact that most of their dealerships are becoming more and more arrogant towards customers, it seems they really need to sort that side of the business out.

At the same time you have got to remember alot of Falcon sales have been stolen by Territory, id say atleast 1000 Falcon buyers a month are now buying Territorys believe it or not, theres 3 people in my Family alone that went from BA Falcons to Territorys, so this could be perhaps why the Falcon is lagging so much! Customers come in wanting a BF, see the Territory, have the salesmen explain to them how it carries the same basics as a Falcon and they are pretty much sold!

XD 351 Ute · 10-01-2006, 09:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShockWaveXR6na

most of their dealerships are becoming more and more arrogant towards customers

It's certainly the case here.
My sister has a 14 month old Territory with a few minor issues, and the dealer from whom she bought it (brand new) doesn't want to know about them........

Ed

Falcon Freak · 16-01-2006, 11:07 PM

Today I finally received a copy of the December numbers. Here is the data for the locally manufactured vehicles sold during December 2005:

FORD

Falcon - 3,537
Fairlane/LTD - 162
Ute - 1,673
Territory -2,203

TOTAL - 7,575

HOLDEN

Commodore - 4,470
Statesman/Caprice - 218
Ute/Crewman - 1,758
Adventra - 356
Monaro - 319

TOTAL - 7,121

TOYOTA

Camry - 3,822
Avalon - 48

TOTAL - 3,870

MITSUBISHI

380 - 947
Magna/Verada - 256

TOTAL - 1,203

The following numbers are for all local sales for the whole of 2005:

FORD

Falcon - 53,080
Fairlane/LTD - 1,980
Ute - 18,384
Territory -23,454

TOTAL - 96,898

HOLDEN

Commodore - 66,794
Statesman/Caprice - 3,573
Ute/Crewman - 20,202
Adventra - 3,153
Monaro - 2,834

TOTAL - 96,556

TOYOTA

Camry - 36,492
Avalon - 2,949

TOTAL - 39,441

MITSUBISHI

380 - 3,548
Magna/Verada - 12,469

TOTAL - 16,017

Yup, it was a small margin in the end but Ford for the first time in a long, long time (at least 10 years) sold more Australian manufactured vehicles on the Australian new car market than Holden.

FF

Dave_au · 16-01-2006, 11:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Falcon Freak

sold more Australian manufactured vehicles on the Australian new car market than Holden.

FF

Probably too busy exporting!

Falcon Freak · 16-01-2006, 11:39 PM

If you want to talk exports then Toyota will come out on top as they exported almost 70,000 cars in 2005 which is much more than Holden.

The purpose of these numbers is to demonstrate that the tide is slowly beginning to turn. If you look at the local sales for the three previous years they are as follows (all data sourced from FAPM):

2004

Holden - 111,349
Ford - 101,280

2003

Holden - 112,155
Ford - 95,967

2002

Holden - 111,501
Ford - 74,613

If I had the numbers for 2000 and 2001 when Ford Australia was at its lowest point then it would be seen that the gap between Ford and Holden was even larger.

Even if Holden exports many more cars, and more cars wearing Holden badges than Ford badges are sold locally, this is an achievement worth noting.

FF

Bossxr8 · 16-01-2006, 11:46 PM

Camry outsold Falcon, a sad, sad day in the history of Australia

: . Territory is doing quite well, not helping Falcon sales but it all adds up for australian made Fords. Good to see more australian Fords sold than Holdens.

vztrt · 17-01-2006, 07:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deadman

It's also disapointing to see the Focus & Fiesta figures. They are much better cars than that...

The Focus is doing as well as Ford wants, they're making more money (surprised me as well) selling limited numbers. There's a waiting list for the car.

Falcon Freak · 17-01-2006, 08:11 PM

All of the figures I posted above are local vehicle sales. The following numbers are total local vehicle production numbers for 2005 (the figures shown in brackets are the 2004 total production numbers):

HOLDEN - 152,960 (165,552) : Local - 93,428 (110,624) Export - 59,532 (54,928)

TOYOTA - 109,276 (109,952) : Local - 39,716 (44,583) Export - 69,560 (65,369)

FORD - 107,447 (114,716) : Local - 97,414 (106,466) Export - 10,033 (8,250)

MITSUBISHI - 19,206 (22,153) : Local - 17,134 (17,632) Export - 2,072 (4,521)

Note that production numbers do not equate directly to vehicle sales as, excluding Toyota, the other three have a sizeable number of unsold vehicles.

FF

lowriding · 19-01-2006, 04:02 PM

Falcon freak , your figures are a bit selected .For starters you have left out the light truck category all together which is a substantial part of business to Ford , Holden and Toyota .Ford sell more light trucks than Territorys .

True total sales were YTD (dec 05):

Ford : 129140
Holden : 174464
Toyota : 202817

regards

Falcon Freak · 19-01-2006, 05:51 PM

It never ceases to amaze me how many people browse rather than actually read posts. What part of "locally manufactured vehicles" was not clear?

These figues are not selected. They are from offical figures issued by FAPM.

These figures are for Australian manufactured models only. Ford Australia does not manufacture light trucks. Nor do they manufacture the Fiesta or Focus vehicles, just to name a few.

These figures are only for Australian manufactured vehicles. It is to show how the Australian Automotive manufacturing industry faired in 2005 in light of the increasing fuel costs.

Clear?

FF

lowriding · 19-01-2006, 06:14 PM

clear? yeah , good onya .If you choose to only show half a story , then it becomes selected.Maybe you should re-read my post. My point is ,in my opinion,your only showing half a story & seems pointless to give semi-statistics .Ford for instance would like to be much more than just Falcon .Which is why they are bringing in good jiggers like focus and fiesta.Courier and transit etc all make up Ford Aus ,and the viability and health thereof.

hope that helps

**russellw** · 19-01-2006, 07:19 PM

The usual monthly and (this time) annual look at the sales numbers can be viewed HERE

Cheers
Russ

Falcon Freak · 19-01-2006, 08:19 PM

Thanks russellw. That page of yours is a very comprehensive summary of new car sales in Australia. The problem I find is that the vFacts data supplied by FAPM and your data, although both comprehensive, neither actually show a summary of the Australian Automotive manufacturing industry. For people who work in this industry these are very important numbers. Hence I have taken the official data supplied by the FAPM and produced a summary which shows:

- total sales of Australian manufactured cars sold in Australia during 2005
- total local vehicle production in 2005 which includes local and export vehicles.

But I don't know if will bother doing this on a regular basis as people keep poo-pooing the numbers. These numbers are real people, I have not made them up!

FF

Falcon Freak · 20-01-2006, 03:44 PM

Here is one reason why we should be discussing the local automotive manufacturing industry:

Link to article

FF

The Taipan · 20-01-2006, 04:18 PM

Don't take it personally that someone didn't read the full text. I found the figures very interesting.

Falcon Freak · 20-01-2006, 10:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lowriding

clear? yeah , good onya .If you choose to only show half a story , then it becomes selected.Maybe you should re-read my post. My point is ,in my opinion,your only showing half a story & seems pointless to give semi-statistics .Ford for instance would like to be much more than just Falcon .Which is why they are bringing in good jiggers like focus and fiesta.Courier and transit etc all make up Ford Aus ,and the viability and health thereof.

hope that helps

Ford Motor Company would like to sell as many Ford badged vehicles in Australia as possible. They don't care where the cars are manufactured.

Ford Australia which is a subsidary of Ford Motor Company primarily concentrate on locally manufactued vehicles as they have control over these cars unlike the fully imported Ford products.

Even the federal government seperate the statistics into 'local' and 'import' as can be seen here under the section Key Automotive statistics. It is concerning to see how much market share has been lost to imported vehicles.

FF

phillyc · 21-01-2006, 12:44 AM

I really appreciate your work Falcon Freak and am also concerned about the imported share of vehicles.

I mean some of them are excellent vehicles, but many of them are not as good as the local product. Also we need an automotive industry. It is vital for our financial survival of our nation. That's why i prefer to buy the local product. In fact 4 of my 5 vehicles previously owned have been made here. The 3 motorbikes haven't because with the exception of the Honda Postie all are fully imported.

Once again, thanks for the figures and the links! Keep it up!

Cheers Phil

all4ford · 21-01-2006, 10:04 AM

Thanks FF, personally I'm only really interested in ford's locally manufactured sales anyway, as this gives true insight to which is Australia's favourite car manufacturer.