The Holden Commodore has outsold traditional rival Ford Falcon by almost five to one, with the VF generation tallying 2827 units in July and boosting year-on-year performance by 17.8 per cent.
Conversely, with a new record low of 594 sales, sales of the five-year-old FG generation Falcon are down 36.9 per cent for the month.
At the official launch of the VF Commodore SS V Redline last month, Holden marketing manager for large cars and SUVs Kristian Aquilina confirmed that some trucking delays and production adjustments meant there was actually a wait for some VF Commodore models in July.
Acquilina said that orders on the SS V Redline models blew out, with an anticipated 50 per cent of SS buyers choosing the most expensive model grade meaning delays of around six months on that grade.
It also means that the full potential for the VF Commodore was not reached in July, despite it having already reversed its downward spiral.
Year-to-date sales remain down 28.1 per cent for the Commodore, tallying 18,259, but that figure has improved from last month’s 35.1 per cent fall.
The Falcon had in percentage terms suffered less of a crash than the Commodore by June this year, down 25.9 per cent year to date. Thanks to July’s huge drop the locally produced Ford is now down 27.3 per cent, with 7787 cars sold year to date, almost entirely bridging the percentage drop compared with the Holden.
The other locally produced big six-cylinder sedan, the Toyota Aurion, outsold the Falcon for the month, with 604 units sold, a monthly improvement of 12.7 per cent. With just 3395 cars sold year to date – 654 fewer than the Toyota 86 – the Aurion is, however, down 26.1 per cent.
The Aurion’s poor performance is slightly offset by that of its near-identical twin Camry, which recorded a 16.1 per cent rise for the month with 2061 sales. Add Aurion sales and the two come close to knocking off Commodore as the number one selling locally produced car. Although the Camry is down 4.1 per cent year to date its 12,723 sales is much higher than that of the Falcon.
Locally manufacutured Toyotas are, however, down overall year to date, strengthening the cause for a third model line – potentially the RAV4 – to be added to its Altona operations.
With the government having pledged another $200 million to assist the automotive industry, all but confirming rumours that Holden required more funds to sign off the next generation Cruze and Commodore platform from 2017, no doubt Toyota will also be asking for its share of the taxpayer-funded pie…
