Toyota rides off with honour

Suzuki sold 268 Swifts - just edged out by Toyota's 275 Corollas. Photo / Supplied

The Toyota Corolla leads the Suzuki Swift and Holden Commodore in the race for individual sales honours after the first four months of this year - and the signs are there of a stronger new-vehicle market ahead.

Transport Agency data shows the 4585 new-car registrations in April were up 30 per cent on the same month last year. Sales of commercial vehicles last month, however, inched along with 1103 registrations, down 8.4 per cent on April 2009. But numbers are likely to increase with the arrival of agricultural shows, like Mystery Creek Field Days.

"The new-vehicle industry is very happy with these numbers," says Perry Kerr, chief executive of the Motor Industry Association. "April is traditionally a quiet month as sales slow with the Easter break and with school holidays.

"Dealers are reporting good levels of inquiry, but they also say they do not have enough good-quality near-new used stock, which is putting pressure on prices."

Kerr added that there was no easy solution for this situation as new vehicle sales throughout 2009 were at an historical low.

Toyota retained top spot with 757 passenger car registrations for April followed by Holden (503) and Ford (489). Toyota topped the commercial sector with 321 registrations followed by Ford with 167 and Nissan with 117. The most popular light commercial model was the Toyota Hilux followed by the Nissan Navara and the Ford Ranger.

April sales were off by 15 per cent compared with March, a traditional dip for the first month of the new financial year.

But total sales so far in 2010 are running 2383 units ahead of last year, a healthy 14 per cent hike.

Motor Trade Association marketing and communications general manager Ian Stronach said the year-on-year comparison is a welcome boost for the industry after some lean times.

"Looking at where things were a year ago, this is quite heartening," he said.

Toyota remains market leader with a 16.5 per cent share, followed by Holden (11 per cent) and Ford (10.6 per cent).

Hyundai finished fourth for the month with 405 sales (8.8 per cent), just enough to head off Mazda with 402 units (8.7 per cent).

It was another closely fought sales month for small cars, Toyota selling 275 Corollas to edge out Suzuki's sales of 268 Swifts.

Holden Commodore (213 units) again proved the large car exception taking third spot ahead of Mazda6 (168 units) and Ford Mondeo (159).

Used import registrations of 7053 were off by 10 per cent compared with March, but were up strongly (48 per cent) over April 2009 levels.

There has been steady growth in this market in recent months, and it is now 43 per cent ahead of the same time last year.

Motorcycle sales also tend to drop away in April, with 2010 proving no exception. Sales of 581 units was the lowest market for some months, down 168 units, or 22 per cent, on March and by an almost identical number and margin over April 2009.

Again, neither sector within this segment was spared, with the fall-off in sales shared pretty much equally between scooters (under 60cc) and larger (over 60cc) motorcycles.