Shock! Hyundai becomes Australia’s top selling car for the month of June
On a high . Hyundai i30 was Australia’s top selling car in June. Picture: Supplied
A cheap and cheerful car brand introduced to Australia in one thousand nine hundred eighty six by a savvy Perth car dealer and colourful businessman, the late Alan Bond, has done the unthinkable.
Hyundai has shocked the Australian motor industry by becoming the top-selling car last month. It’s the very first time the South Korean brand has been in the top spot since the plucky Hyundai Excel knocked the Holden Commodore off its perch in June 1998.
Driven by a special suggest of $Nineteen,990 drive-away with automatic transmission and a rear-view camera — about $7000 off utter price — the Hyundai i30 hatchback outsold the reigning champions the Toyota Corolla and Mazda3 in June, according to preliminary figures.
More than three out of every four Hyundai i30s sold were of the cut-price $Nineteen,990 model, dealer sources have told News Corp Australia.
Long road . Hyundai’s 2nd victory since arriving in 1986. Picture: Supplied
More than five thousand five hundred Hyundai i30 hatchbacks were delivered last month, lightly eclipsing the tally of four thousand one hundred fifty Toyota Corollas and four thousand one hundred thirty Mazda 3s (albeit the Corolla is still ahead for the year to date).
The result is more remarkable once you take into account the Hyundai i30 tally is for hatchback sales alone, whereas the Toyota and Mazda totals include both sedans and hatches.
The sedan version of the Hyundai i30 is sold with another badge, otherwise the leading margin would have been even greater (more than six hundred eighty Hyundai Elantra sedans were sold in June).
Sales of utes were also strong in the rush to the end of the financial year, packing three of the Top ten places and the Toyota HiLux claiming 2nd outright.
Streeting ahead . the Toyota Corolla is still in front in year-to-date sales. Picture: Supplied
In other upsets, the Volkswagen Golf, driven by acute discounting to $24,990 drive-away, edged ahead of the Toyota Camry and just behind the Holden Commodore.
Seven of the Top ten brands posted significant gains, but Holden, Ford and Nissan sales were down compared to the same month last year.
The Ford Falcon was once again outsold by the Mercedes-Benz C Class (530 deliveries versus 900).
Figures for the total market are not due to be published until Friday, however industry insiders believe the car industry is on track for a fresh record year.
Trade deal . Toyota HiLux was one of three utes in the Top Ten. Picture: Supplied
Record low interest rates — rather than the $20,000 tax incentive for petite businesses announced in the latest Federal Budget — are the driving force behind the sales surge, say dealer sources.
“People are still attempting to get their head around what the $20,000 tax break means for their business, but they also need to have the money to spend in the very first place,” said a finance accomplished at a leading metropolitan Toyota dealership.
“The largest driver is interest rates. People are figuring out they can pay less than what they were paying three or four years ago and get a brand-new car. Or they can make the same repayments and get a dearer car.”
Treat yourself . low interest rates rather than tax cracks were sales drivers. Picture: Supplied
Figures supplied to News Corp Australia display that the repayments on a $20,000 car today can be as low as $387 per month, or $89 a week, in a best-case screenplay of six per cent interest.
But three years ago, a $20,000 car typically cost about $486 per month, with the buyer paying more than $9000 in interest over five years, versus $3200 in interest over the same period today.
Alternatively, the repayments of $486 per month at today’s low interest rates will buy a $25,000 car rather than a $20,000 car.
Meantime, the industry is still coming to grips with Hyundai’s shock result just twenty nine years after arriving in Australia.
Hyundai cars were introduced locally in one thousand nine hundred eighty six by Perth car dealer John Hughes — who went on to become the company’s fattest retail outlet in the southern hemisphere from one thousand nine hundred ninety seven to two thousand three — with financial backing by Alan Bond.
But with Bond Corportation suffering financial difficulties, the distribution rights in Australia were then treated by a Singapore-based company from one thousand nine hundred ninety until Hyundai established a head office locally in 2003.
Indeed, Hyundai is now a challenger for third place outright if it can overtake Holden and shove the former Number One to fourth by the end of the year.
Holden is presently third place behind Toyota and Mazda when the year-to-date tally is calculated, but is locked in a bumper-to-bumper battle with Hyundai.
Hyundai has been ahead of Holden for three of the past six months, and the two brands are separated by just one thousand one hundred sales in the January-to-June tally.
After being hammered by Hyundai in May, Holden leapt ahead in June thanks to the thickest month ever for the Trax baby SUV, Captiva5 compact SUV, the Colorado ute, and Colorado7 seven-seat 4WD.
It was also the best result in eighteen months for the Barina puny car and the Commodore ute, while the Captiva7 posted its highest sales in a year.
Top ten cars in June 2015
Hyundai i30 5520
Toyota HiLux 4280
Toyota Corolla 4150
Mitsubishi Triton 3530
Ford Ranger 3370
Holden Commodore 2770
Volkswagen Golf 2680
Toyota Camry 2600
Top ten brands in June 2015
Toyota 21,500 up Three.Trio per cent
Holden 11,930 down Three.Trio per cent
Mazda 11,520 up twenty three per cent
Hyundai 11,005 up ten per cent
Mitsubishi nine thousand fifteen up 8.9 per cent
Ford seven thousand two hundred fifty down 16.8 per cent
Volkswagen seven thousand one hundred five up 7.7 per cent
Nissan six thousand six hundred forty five down 16.9 per cent
Honda five thousand three hundred ten up seventy per cent
Subaru four thousand five hundred up 16.9 per cent
* Preliminary figures. Official VFACTS data published Friday three July, 2015.