March 07 New car sales Aus and NZ

[BadMac]

Interesting change in the numbers this month.

Top 20 Sellers:

1. Holden Commodore - 5,752
2. Toyota Corolla - 4,029
3. Ford Falcon - 3,249
4. Mazda 3 - 3,182
5. Toyota Yaris - 2,702
6. Toyota Camry - 2,574
7. Toyota Aurion - 2,037
8. Hyundai Getz - 1,895
9. Holden Astra - 1,771
10. Honda Civic - 1,685

11. Ford Focus - 1,595
12. Mitsubishi Lancer - 1,527
13. Nissan Tiida - 1,527
14. Honda CR-V - 1,454
15. Toyota Rav4 - 1,406
16. Ford Territory - 1,383
17. Toyota Prado - 1,314
18. Suzuki Swift - 1,251
19. Mazda 6 - 1,232
20. Mitsubishi Pajero - 1,213

NZ

1. Commodore - 565
2. Swift - 342
3. Falcon - 309
4. Jazz - 233
5. Civic - 218


Note also. The battle is not Holden versus Ford. Holden Plus Ford are only just keeping up with Toyota.

Top Australian Brands March 2007

Brand - Month - Year - Month % - Year %
Toyota - 21,390 - 56,230 - 22.7 - 22.0
Holden - 13,454 - 37,795 - 14.3 - 14.8
Ford - 10,074 - 26,685 - 10.7 - 10.5
Mazda - 7,140 - 20,132 - 7.6 - 7.9
Mitsubishi - 6,201 - 15,821 - 6.6 - 6.2
Honda - 5,936 - 15,728 - 6.3 - 6.2
Nissan - 5,811 - 16,843 - 6.2 - 6.6
Hyundai - 3,804 - 9,949 - 4.0 - 3.9
Subaru - 3,613 - 9,558 - 3.8 - 3.7
Volkswagen - 2,265 - 6,377 - 2.4 - 2.5

Notice anything? Check the Corolla numbers.
Also note the Camery/Aurion - 4500 is growing.

[planetdavo]

Fleets are buying Toyota 4cyls....

[Road Warrior]

Fleets are buying Toyota 4cyls....

Yeah all the cars at the Govt dpt I work for are all Corollas and 4cyl Camrys. Toyota must do good fleet discounts?

Holden & Ford v Toyota. Hmmm thats going to be an interesting fight for the rest of the year. Once Holden & Ford start getting some new products on stream (Epica, Mondeo etc) then Toyota's lead might start to look a bit thin.

[Marco]

Those Corolla sales are definitive proof that lots of people don't do a lot of research before buying a car - hard to think of a worse small car on the market at the moment!

[BadMac]

Check out the NZ top 5. Note NO corolla. That must be a first ever. No Fleets buying in March? Maybe people are holding out for the new model? Maybe people finally got sensible. Nah don't know what happened there.

[VooDoo]

Anyone know if there are details on the breakup of fleet/private sales. Someone has said that fleet make up the majority of Holden/Ford sales. I have contracts with dealerships and would see approx 15-20% as fleet, the rest private. The dealership is one of the bigger ones in QLD and does a lot of fleet work too.

[HSVDKB]

Those Corolla sales are definitive proof that lots of people don't do a lot of research before buying a car - hard to think of a worse small car on the market at the moment!

Yep its hard to believe the corolla still sells so well. Drove all the cars of the size when getting a new car recently for the Mrs. Settled on a Mazda3 SP23. Corolla
didnt stack up at all

[payaya]

Um maybe because they have really low running costs??? Do you really believe your employer cares how poor your car is?

[Goggles]

I notice that the 380 isn't even in the top 20 of aussie sales.

oh dear.........

[llucie]

Yep its hard to believe the corolla still sells so well. Drove all the cars of the size when getting a new car recently for the Mrs. Settled on a Mazda3 SP23. Corolla
didnt stack up at all Probably find that the "after sales" is a major part of Toyota ownership - My wife has a late model Camry and Toyota just can't do enough for her , not a blemish in ownership in any way and for a non car person that is more important than the car itself , her previous vehicle was a Ford Laser , no problems with the car but the dealer and the service department were second rate (reputed to be the best on the Coast) and the car previous to the Laser was a Holden Calibra , the Calibra proved to be an absolute POS and ownership was only made worse by trying to deal with the dealership and GMH , consequently she won't set foot in a Holden dealership again and at Ford only as a last resort .

[payaya]

I notice that the 380 isn't even in the top 20 of aussie sales.

oh dear.........

Aussies just are loyal people I guess. Aussies love their Holdens, they constantly are topping the sales charts on the Big Sedans, even when the Magna, and Falcon both won wheels cars of the year, the public still seemed to warm to the commodore more.

When the Magna won COTY its styling was fresh and was clearly better than what Ford/Commodore/Toyota had to offer. Still it never got the attention it deserved.

[planetdavo]

People simply buy lots of Toyota's because they are utterly reliable, totally easy to use whitegoods that people trust, just like a fridge or TV.
Hence the reason there's a supercharged Aurion coming. Toyota know that the (higher margin) private buyer is getting tempted by more attractive metal out there. Most cars are pretty reliable these days, and they can't rely on the fleets and the grey army for ever, even if those sales make the monthly sales figures look so good.
Something Ford and Holden realised as well, hence the very high private take up of sports models....

[payaya]

true!

Come to think about it, I currently own a Mitsubishi, blown two gear boxes on it so far, niggles here and there. Would I buy another one???

NOPE!

[SS Enforcer]

Aussies just are loyal people I guess. Aussies love their Holdens, they constantly are topping the sales charts on the Big Sedans, even when the Magna, and Falcon both won wheels cars of the year, the public still seemed to warm to the commodore more.

When the Magna won COTY its styling was fresh and was clearly better than what Ford/Commodore/Toyota had to offer. Still it never got the attention it deserved.

Front wheel drive big cars will never be a big seller here in OZ period. I don't expect the Aurion performance version to do any real sales either . If Mitsuibishi and Toyota offered RW drive High Performance medium to large sedans Holden and Ford would suffer badly .

And yes we do love our Holdens especially the ones with the big Chevs in em . :p

cheers

[BadMac]

The Camry Plus Aurion equals 4600, which last time I looked easily bet the Falcon sales (all models combined), so Aussies are warming to medium/large front drive cars. In fact combine Falcon and Commodore is 9000ish versus 4500 Camaurions. I'd say 2:1 and closing means the general public couldn't care less about front versus rear, performance and economy are far more important in the non enthuist crowd.

Or maybe try:
2. Toyota Corolla - 4,029
4. Mazda 3 - 3,182
5. Toyota Yaris - 2,702
6. Toyota Camry - 2,574
7. Toyota Aurion - 2,037
8. Hyundai Getz - 1,895
9. Holden Astra - 1,771
10. Honda Civic - 1,685
11. Ford Focus - 1,595
12. Mitsubishi Lancer - 1,527
13. Nissan Tiida - 1,527
18. Suzuki Swift - 1,251
19. Mazda 6 - 1,232

Versus

1. Holden Commodore - 5,752
3. Ford Falcon - 3,249

27000 versus 9000, not even close. Front drive is vastly more popular overall. The only place its not is in the medium/large segment.

[LTH-00L]

Toyota will always sell well because they are reliable, simple, practical cars and if you don't mind driving a microwave on wheels, then you'd buy one... No real "car" person would buy a Toyota because they don't make a decent car for them (us).. Being front wheel drive is only one of the many flaws in Toyota's line up.

When you look at total market, lets not forget that Toyota have a much wider range than Holden has.
-Yaris
-Prius
-Corolla
-Camry
-Aurion
-Rav 4
-Landcruiser
-Tarago
-Hilux
-Hiace
-Avensis
-Kluger
-Landcruiser 70
-Coaster
And within all these there are of course variants.

Considering this, Holden aren't doing too bad in the total Market segment when it comes to market share.

For me, a Toyota will probably be the last car i'd buy as i think they're the worst looking cars on the road. Call me biasd if you wish but that's how i feel.

The 380 is a very under estimated car. I had one as a hire car not too long ago and was extremely impressed. For someone that doesn't want to spend the extra money to buy a Commodore and doesn't mind a front wheel drive, this is a brilliant car. The Sonata is also in the same boat.

Cheers.

[planetdavo]

Another few things to consider....
Falcon is near the end of a model cycle, and has looked the same for nearly five years now, so sales are dropping (combined with lost fleet sales to 4 cyl's)
Commodore is virtually sedan only sales lately. Wagons/utes add very little to the figures, as they wind down VZ production.
Toyota sell PLENTY of Camry/Corolla 4cyl's to fleets, which will flood the market at some point, leading to a drop in resale values (as happens to any brand doing big fleet business)
Aurion is brand new, pushed by a very large advertising push (in usual Toyota fashion).
380 is still suffering from the ABC led anti Mitsubishi push. People are wary of a car they think is about to disappear.
Holden, Ford and Mitsubishi are all lacking mid sized models of late (about to change), so Toyota almost rules the "economy" end of the mid sized market. The competition is almost all "premium" (Mazda 6, Subaru Liberty, Honda Euro Accord etc).
As was said a bit earlier, Toyota rely on a flooding of the market to saturate their brand name in peoples minds. They should be number one!

[Road Warrior]

Yeah but Toyota must be doing some good fleet deals. Most of the Govt fleets are Corollas and Camrys, look at the Govt fleet auctions and the Toyota section is always full of cars. By comparison the Commodores and Falcons are few and far between because most of them have been cycled out of the fleet already, apart from Police departments because they will always need large decent RWD cars.

planetdavo hit the nail on the head too with VE sales - those sales are only one body type, there arent any wagons and utes on stream yet and when they do become available then the figures will spike - there are a lot of people out there waiting for a VE ute.

The next 12 months are gonna be tough for the Falcon though.

[CalaisOwner]

It looks like Toyota will sell more vehicles than both Holden and Ford together in just a few months time from now.

[LTH-00L]

Yeah but Toyota must be doing some good fleet deals. Most of the Govt fleets are Corollas and Camrys, look at the Govt fleet auctions and the Toyota section is always full of cars. By comparison the Commodores and Falcons are few and far between because most of them have been cycled out of the fleet already, apart from Police departments because they will always need large decent RWD cars.

You're right... but i don't think it's cos Toyota is doing good fleet deals... i think it's got alot to do with the increasing pressure on the Govt to reduce greenhouse gasses. They think people will lay off them seen as though they're now buying 4cyl cars rather than big 6's!

The Govt is shooting it self in the foot!! Here they are backing Holden & Ford with Millions of dollars every year to keep production in Australia, but then they go and by Toyota's!! The Govt will be to blame WHEN Ford sack almost their entire aussie work force when they stop designing there cars in Australia in a few years.. Hopefully this won't also happen to Holden.

[EfiJy]

take away totyotas commercals and they are just average. if ford and holden did as well as toyota in 4wds theyd make squlliions

[LTH-00L]

take away totyotas commercals and they are just average. if ford and holden did as well as toyota in 4wds theyd make squlliions

I agree 100%

[Dacious]

Also with Toyo sales you have to remember - Camry and Aurion are actually in different classes! Camry is officially a medium car like Mazda 6 and Nissan Maxima according to FCAI - Aurion is a large car like 380/Commodore/Falcon! Be buggered if I know how that works.

And Camrys used to sell 2500-3500 per month, so some Aurion sales are canibalisation of Camry. When the new model came out and discounting of the runouts stopped in Aug-Sept sales stalled. Since the new Camry sales are actually down on previous years I'd expect Drive to be running 'What's Wrong at Toyota' stories?

Aurion been all over the shops since release, from 1500-2300 and back. When the Avalon was released it went to as high as 3000-3500 per month before tailing off. So signs for Aurion are not all that promising. I believe there are only so many cardigan wearers who want a 'six (as small as) with the economy of a four'. The rest will be asking why they should pay $7K more for much the same car when they already drive around barely off the idle circuit in their four.... Especially when the Camry handles and rides better, not surprisingly.

Old model Corolla has also been on runout, plus Toyota's been running the 'same price as business pays' and '2006 stock sales'. So I think it is fair to say that, with Christmas/holidays over and credit cards out of intensive care people are back buying - VE and Falcon also had a great month compared to Jan/Feb. When prices go back up i.e. Toyota lands new Corollas and tries selling at RRP to a market expecting a big discount things might change.

Holden will probably never sell 1:1 with Toyo in the small classes, but at least it is selling cars like Barina, Captiva and hopefully Epica in segments where there was zilch before. Epica will not beat Camry for sales, but might give it a shirtfront like the Captiva has to small SUVs. Holden's problem may continue to be sourcing enough stock.

[CalaisOwner]

Aurion been all over the shops since release, from 1500-2300 and back. When the Avalon was released it went to as high as 3000-3500 per month before tailing off. So signs for Aurion are not all that promising. I believe there are only so many cardigan wearers who want a 'six (as small as) with the economy of a four'. The rest will be asking why they should pay $7K more for much the same car when they already drive around barely off the idle circuit in their four.... Especially when the Camry handles and rides better, not surprisingly.

Don't forget that the Aurion has the best V6 engine in a locally made car with the best power and fuel economy balance. Toyota was smart enough to use the very same 3.5L engine that's used on millions of vehicles. Here are the applications for that 2GR-FE engine from Wikipedia:

2005 Toyota Avalon
2006 Toyota Aurion
2006 Toyota RAV4 V6
2006 Toyota Estima V6
2007 Toyota Previa V6
2007 Toyota Tarago V6
2007 Toyota Camry V6
2007 Toyota Sienna
2007 Lexus ES 350
2007 Lexus RX 350
2008 Toyota Kluger
2008 Toyota Highlander

Holden should have just use the VE V6 engine for the Captiva. Sales might have skyrocketed. The opportunity is now lost because Toyota's introducing a Rav4 V6 with the 2GR-FE engine in a few months time!

[Road Warrior]

The Govt is shooting it self in the foot!! Here they are backing Holden & Ford with Millions of dollars every year to keep production in Australia, but then they go and by Toyota's!! The Govt will be to blame WHEN Ford sack almost their entire aussie work force when they stop designing there cars in Australia in a few years.. Hopefully this won't also happen to Holden.

Ford HQ will be to blame just as much as the Govt...Ford HQ have failed to recognise the local products here and have failed to protect the R&D base for RWD Ford cars here in Australia (unlike GM has done with the Commodore - the Commodore has been 'drought proofed' against any downturn in domestic sales through a strong export program). Ford HQ have tried more than once to windup Falcon development and production where they should be following GM's lead and making Australia the centre of Fords RWD car universe. No wonder why they are in financial dire straits now - they make stupid business decisions.

The Government can't be expected to bail out local production every time things turn bad because of shitty management and product planning by the big boys in Detroit.

[LTH-00L]

Ford HQ will be to blame just as much as the Govt...Ford HQ have failed to recognise the local products here and have failed to protect the R&D base for RWD Ford cars here in Australia (unlike GM has done with the Commodore - the Commodore has been 'drought proofed' against any downturn in domestic sales through a strong export program). Ford HQ have tried more than once to windup Falcon development and production where they should be following GM's lead and making Australia the centre of Fords RWD car universe. No wonder why they are in financial dire straits now - they make stupid business decisions.

The Government can't be expected to bail out local production every time things turn bad because of shitty management and product planning by the big boys in Detroit.

You're right and i agree with you. I didn't mean the Govt will be the only ones to blame.. Ford has made some really stupid business decisions!

I was flicking through a 2002 Wheels mag yesterday and i could not believe the market figures. This mag was just before the release of the VY & BA (they were both on the front cover)

Commodore Sold 8000 units!!!!
Then follow by Corolla @ 4,500
and finally falcon @ around 3,500

Holden must be suffering BIG TIME!! i didn't realise how many units they use to sell in comparision to current trends!

[Holden Man]

Firstly, I don't know anyone who chooses a car because it is FWD.

They buy for other reasons than that.

I've said it before FWD is good for the manufactures as it is cheaper to produce. There is no benefit to the buyer at all.

Tyres wear out quicker on FWD,
Turning circles are larger on FWD compared to RWD,
CV joints need replacing every 100,000k
Handling and steering are compromised when under full acceleration
etc
etc

Name a FWD Large Sedan that has been remembered for it's performance ?

[LTH-00L]

Firstly, I don't know anyone who chooses a car because it is FWD.

They buy for other reasons than that.

I've said it before FWD is good for the manufactures as it is cheaper to produce. There is no benefit to the buyer at all.

Tyres wear out quicker on FWD,
Turning circles are larger on FWD compared to RWD,
CV joints need replacing every 100,000k
Handling and steering are compromised when under full acceleration
etc
etc

Name a FWD Large Sedan that has been remembered for it's performance ?

I dont think anyone is arguing with any of your points except one.....

There is one benefit and that is......... PRICE!!! And that sometimes is the decider for some people!

For me, i agree with you and will stick to my RWD!

[Holden Man]

I
There is one benefit and that is......... PRICE!!! And that sometimes is the decider for some people!

The Avalon is the same price as the VE but is a smaller car !

[LTH-00L]

The Avalon is the same price as the VE but is a smaller car !

The Avalon is no longer on Sale :stick:

[mac06]

Holden must be suffering BIG TIME!! i didn't realise how many units they use to sell in comparision to current trends![/QUOTE]

IMHO it was a business decision by Holden to try and target the private buyer rather than the big fleets just to get numbers. Hence the private buyer has been able to buy the VE at virtually no extra cost (some lower) to the VZ. Now that Holden aren't throwing as much money at fleets they have more to use for private sales, which means numbers are down but profit is up for Holden. Private buyers will also be protected by the lower numbers of used fleet cars going back into the market, which causes the used car prices to drop. So everyone is a winner, except fleets. No suffering there.

One reason Holden may have posted a loss in 2006 is the amount spent on development and infrastructure. That should turn around in 2007. Time will tell.

[CalaisOwner]

Tyres wear out quicker on FWD,
Turning circles are larger on FWD compared to RWD

Have you owned a VT?




Name a FWD Large Sedan that has been remembered for it's performance ?

Aurion.

[Mikhael]

Anyone know if there are details on the breakup of fleet/private sales. Someone has said that fleet make up the majority of Holden/Ford sales. I have contracts with dealerships and would see approx 15-20% as fleet, the rest private. The dealership is one of the bigger ones in QLD and does a lot of fleet work too.

I agree, it would be good to know the fleet/private break-up for the VE.

Me thinks the private buyer % is way up and fleet % less than 50% now.

This is good news as resale values will be much better next trade-in time as the dealers won't be swamped in stocks of VE's :yup:

On the down side, Holden's overall sales volume is slipping and they must address this in other areas.

The Epica is a good start, they should really go-hard and target Camry with this car. Toyota have no problem advertising Aurion in the media against Holden and Ford, Toyota have a habit of rubbishing the competition in their
AD's, so if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.
It's working for Toyota !

The Camry is the benchmark medium car, so gun for it Holden !

The other market Toyota is killing Holden in is SUV's and light trucks.

The Rodeo is a great product that deserves better marketing and support by Holden.
If Toyota can sell 4000 Hi-lux's a month, then there is NO reason the Rodeo can't as well. Selling roughly half this amount per month is not good enough in today's market.

The Captiva SUV is a start and the 600 average sales a month is better than nothing, but still well short of Toyota's average sales effort at:-
RAV4 1200 per month
Kluger 500 per month
Prado 1300 per month
Landcruiser 1000 per month

4000 sales to 600 sales would partly explain Holden's predictament.

When you add up the difference in sales of SUV's and light trucks between Toyota and Holden each month, it is about 5500 sales and isn't this roughly what Toyota outsell Holden each month ?

THERE'S YOUR ANSWER HOLDEN :idea:

If Holden are ever going to catch Toyota, then they don't need to give away such a huge lead in SUV and light truck sales.
It's all about product, and if you haven't got it, you won't sell it !!!!!


Holden are bidding their time with Barina and Viva waiting on the all-new generation models coming through in the next couple of years which will really take the fight up to Toyota then, but in the meantime, Holden should really push the Barina and Viva up against Yaris and Corolla for fleet sales as both are about $2000-$3000 cheaper and this appeals to frugal fleets.

I don't understand Holden and Ford handing over the fleet market to Toyota so easily.
Toyota embrace fleet sales with open arms, to them "a sale is a sale" what ever the origin.

So......., will we see the Corolla and Camry over the next couple of years suffer plummeting re-sale values and the used car market swamped in Corolla's and Camry's

?

[LTH-00L]

I agree, it would be good to know the fleet/private break-up for the VE.

Me thinks the private buyer % is way up and fleet % less than 50% now.

This is good news as resale values will be much better next trade-in time as the dealers won't be swamped in stocks of VE's :yup:

On the down side, Holden's overall sales volume is slipping and they must address this in other areas.

The Epica is a good start, they should really go-hard and target Camry with this car. Toyota have no problem advertising Aurion in the media against Holden and Ford, Toyota have a habit of rubbishing the competition in their
AD's, so if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.
It's working for Toyota !

The Camry is the benchmark medium car, so gun for it Holden !

The other market Toyota is killing Holden in is SUV's and light trucks.

The Rodeo is a great product that deserves better marketing and support by Holden.
If Toyota can sell 4000 Hi-lux's a month, then there is NO reason the Rodeo can't as well. Selling roughly half this amount per month is not good enough in today's market.

The Captiva SUV is a start and the 600 average sales a month is better than nothing, but still well short of Toyota's average sales effort at:-
RAV4 1200 per month
Kluger 500 per month
Prado 1300 per month
Landcruiser 1000 per month

4000 sales to 600 sales would partly explain Holden's predictament.

When you add up the difference in sales of SUV's and light trucks between Toyota and Holden each month, it is about 5500 sales and isn't this roughly what Toyota outsell Holden each month ?

THERE'S YOUR ANSWER HOLDEN :idea:

If Holden are ever going to catch Toyota, then they don't need to give away such a huge lead in SUV and light truck sales.
It's all about product, and if you haven't got it, you won't sell it !!!!!


Holden are bidding their time with Barina and Viva waiting on the all-new generation models coming through in the next couple of years which will really take the fight up to Toyota then, but in the meantime, Holden should really push the Barina and Viva up against Yaris and Corolla for fleet sales as both are about $2000-$3000 cheaper and this appeals to frugal fleets.

I don't understand Holden and Ford handing over the fleet market to Toyota so easily.
Toyota embrace fleet sales with open arms, to them "a sale is a sale" what ever the origin.

So......., will we see the Corolla and Camry over the next couple of years suffer plummeting re-sale values and the used car market swamped in Corolla's and Camry's

?

You've pretty much summed it all up there!

[Mikhael]

You've pretty much summed it all up there!

Thanks mate. Someone had to say it. ;)

I'll get off my soap box now :soap:

[Ghia351]

Thanks mate. Someone had to say it. ;)

I'll get off my soap box now :soap:

The other side of the coin is do you chase market share sacrificing profits, for how many years now has Toyota dominated the overall market and yet "produced" profits that are ridiculously low in relation to the total units sold. You can sell 1000 cars and make $1000 or you can sell 100 and make $1000 and Toyota prefers the former. Toyota has also been trading on its reputation of reliablity for a long time and in most cases deservedly so, however of late they have had a huge jump in recalls (particulary in US) and drop in quality probably in relation to the increase in sales volumes and trouble managing the production.

[Road Warrior]

How much financial support does Toyota Australia get from the parent company for their discounting, compared to Holden and Ford? Considering that all (bar what...2 cars) are global products for Toyota.

[Mikhael]

The other side of the coin is do you chase market share sacrificing profits, for how many years now has Toyota dominated the overall market and yet "produced" profits that are ridiculously low in relation to the total units sold. You can sell 1000 cars and make $1000 or you can sell 100 and make $1000 and Toyota prefers the former. Toyota has also been trading on its reputation of reliablity for a long time and in most cases deservedly so, however of late they have had a huge jump in recalls (particulary in US) and drop in quality probably in relation to the increase in sales volumes and trouble managing the production.

Toyota don't need to make huge profits in Australia, they already make billions every year around the world.

Their philosophy is, lets spend the Australian profit and "buy" market share and own the market.
It gives them something to crow about.

The domination of Toyota in Australia is the worry, if they drive out competition, they could then name their price.

It's the same game in the supermarket industry.
The fear is that Coles and Woolies drive out competition, then once they own the market, they jack up the prices :mad:

Toyota domination is a very real concern.

Healthy competition is better for the industry and the consumer.

[Jac001]

The other side of the coin is do you chase market share sacrificing profits.


This is the reason that holden with VE has moved away from fleet sales and are focusing on private sales.

Lets build less cars, at a lesser overall cost, yet get more profit per car to our private customers.

This is a dangerous path as fleet sales over the course of a year are generally pretty stable. Private sales on the other hand are much more volatile.



As listed above holdens lost market share when they failed to keep up with the huge surge of SUV's on the market over the last 10-15 years.

Most people know what a holden Jackaroo is, but how many lay persons remember a holden Monterey or a holden Frontera or more recently a Holden suburban? Landcruiser, Rav4 and Prado are much more established products in the market place.

[LTH-00L]

The other side of the coin is do you chase market share sacrificing profits, for how many years now has Toyota dominated the overall market and yet "produced" profits that are ridiculously low in relation to the total units sold. You can sell 1000 cars and make $1000 or you can sell 100 and make $1000 and Toyota prefers the former. Toyota has also been trading on its reputation of reliablity for a long time and in most cases deservedly so, however of late they have had a huge jump in recalls (particulary in US) and drop in quality probably in relation to the increase in sales volumes and trouble managing the production.

You're spot on!! you must of been typing this as i was thinking about it!!!


Toyota don't need to make huge profits in Australia, they already make billions every year around the world.

Their philosophy is, lets spend the Australian profit and "buy" market share and own the market.
It gives them something to crow about.

The domination of Toyota in Australia is the worry, if they drive out competition, they could then name their price.

It's the same game in the supermarket industry.
The fear is that Coles and Woolies drive out competition, then once they own the market, they jack up the prices :mad:

Toyota domination is a very real concern.

Healthy competition is better for the industry and the consumer.

How do you know this is their strategy? Do you work for Toyota or know an exec member?

[Mikhael]

How do you know this is their strategy? Do you work for Toyota or know an exec member?

I don't, but it's plainly obvious.

Toyota are throwing money at just about everything, AFL, NRL, many T.V shows, every second AD on TV is a Toyota AD, all forms of media, there's even a bloody Aurion sitting on a stand display with signage and lights etc as you drive into the Sydney domestic airport terminal. (I'm mean, seriously ?)

It's saturation advertising.

I was speaking with the sales manager at my local Holden dealer recently while having the car serviced, and asked him how sales were going.
He said they would be good if it wasn't for Toyota buying the market.
He was up against the local Toyota dealer on a fleet of cars and every time he went back to the fleet buyer with a price, the Toyota dealer down the road would undercut him. This kept going on until he couldn't compete anymore and said the Toyota dealer would have been losing money on the deal in the end, but to Toyota, it was a must win, at any cost attitude..........

This is what Holden and Ford are up against, Toyota are shutting them out.