Small cars all the rage as petrol price rises

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Small cars all the rage as petrol price rises
By Ian Porter
May 4, 2006

CAR buyers continued their hot and cold run last month, with the traditional seasonal slowdown exacerbated by the combination of Easter and Anzac Day in the one month.

Average daily sales were down from the March level but still ahead of the previous April as large cars, sports utility vehicles and light commercials continued to lose market share to the fleet of small and light cars flooding in from overseas.

Buyers drove away 3120 new cars each trading day last month, 4.8 per cent fewer than the 3277 bought each day in March. Sales of Ford's Falcon, Toyota's Camry and Holden's Commodore all dropped at least twice as fast, although Ford's Territory and Mitsubishi's 380 both sailed through last month virtually unscathed.

But while they might have been stable, sales of the 380 were still travelling at only half the rate Mitsubishi planned when it launched the car last year.

The company last week revealed a dramatic repositioning of its range of local and imported cars.

It cut list prices across the board and led with a 19 per cent reduction in the base price of the 380, which now starts at $27,990.

All the action was in the light-car classes, with Ford's Fiesta and Holden's Korea-sourced Barina taking some market share from established sector leaders, Toyota and Hyundai.

Ford had an excellent month, with both its European models, the Fiesta and the two-litre Focus, which both markedly boosted their shares of the light and small segments respectively.

While Hyundai lost a little ground in light cars, it more than made up for that with gains in small cars and in the medium sector, where its Sonata gained share in the falling market.

The Korean maker lifted market share for the first four months of the year to 5.3 per cent, enough to move past Mitsubishi and into sixth place.

It was the only brand in the top 10 to lift sales over the four months.

The latest Vfacts figures show it was not just cheap small cars that were selling well. Buyers may well be switching to smaller cars to reduce the effect of surging fuel prices, but owners of large luxury cars are switching to small luxury cars.

DaimlerChrysler was pleased with the sales of its Mercedes-Benz A and B Class models last month. The cars took a combined 31 per cent of the segment for small cars worth more than $40,000.

Audi's A3 models also posted greater sales than a year ago, gaining on the segment leader, BMW's 1 Series. Sales of the 1 Series and BMW's Mini Cooper model both eased under the onslaught from the other German brands.

Sports utility vehicles have taken the biggest hit so far this year but the segment leader, Ford's Territory, registered a steady 69 sales a day last month.