Shock as Nissan bumps Holden off podium

For the first time in the 79-year history of Datsun-Nissan in Australia, the car brand has outsold Holden. Source: News Limited

FOR the first time in Australian automotive history the top-three selling car brands in February were Japanese - and only two locally made cars barely made it into the top 10.

Toyota continued its 10-year dominance leading the market in February, with full importer Mazda maintaining second place for the third month in a row.

But in a move that has left industry veterans gob-smacked, Japanese counterpart Nissan bumped Holden off the podium to claim third place.

It is the first time in the 79-year history of Datsun-Nissan in Australia that it has outsold Holden - and the second time in a year Nissan has beaten Ford.

Perhaps more disturbingly for Australia's struggling car manufacturers - and the state and federal governments under fire for propping them up with taxpayer dollars - Nissan is selling more cars now than when it assembled them locally between 1972 and 1992.

Holden claims its February flop was caused by a computer glitch that restricted dealers from reporting sales.

The Holden Cruze managed to scrape into the top ten.

Its one saving grace: the Commodore and Cruze were the only locally made cars to scrape into the top 10.

Japanese brands cashed in with sharper prices across a strong line-up of small cars, SUVs and utilities, confidential preliminary figures revealed exclusively to News Limited show.

The currency's crippling effect on the Australian car industry has renewed calls on the Reserve Bank to weaken the Australian dollar, which has been at record highs for two years.

Last week an RBA report released under Freedom Of Information showed the Australian dollar was over-valued by 7 per cent, but RBA governor Glenn Stevens maintains an intervention is not required.

"The sharpest prices we've seen in decades have been driven by interventions by foreign central banks,'' Holden director of government and corporate affairs Matt Hobbs told News Limited.

"It's an issue that Australian government needs to be aware of. We have not seen this sort of currency pressure since the 1970s."

The artificially devalued Japanese Yen has enabled Australian importers of Japanese cars to offer abnormally sharp discounts. Late last year one Australian dollar bought 80 Yen, but as the Japanese currency weakened one Australian dollar was worth 90 Yen in January and climbed to almost 95 Yen at the start of March.

Honda Australia has even reverted to sourcing some cars from Japan rather than low-cost Thailand because it can get just as good a deal, if not better.

The special edition Jazz "Vibe'' sells for less than the Thailand-made versions of the same car.Brand-new models of the Nissan Pulsar, Toyota Corolla and Toyota RAV4 have been released in the past three months with the same or cheaper prices than they started with in the 1990s - despite being much better equipped.

It's not only Japanese brands reaping the rewards. The Australian car industry is caught in a pincer movement as European brands have also made the most of favourable exchange rates.

Last week Mercedes released a car that was cheaper than a Holden Commodore (when recommended retail prices are compared: $35,690 versus $35,990 plus on-road costs) and yet the baby Benz has more standard equipment.

Last year a Mercedes was the second-highest selling medium-size sedan after the Toyota Camry and ahead of the Mazda6 and Subaru Liberty.

In a further sign of the fragmentation of the new-car market, the bulk of the top 20 sellers are separated by less than 500 sales. Historically, the gaps in sales volumes between each model have been much wider.

This reporter is on Twitter: @JoshuaDowling

Top-selling brands in February (and how they compare to the same month last year)

Toyota 15,992 (up 7 per cent)
Mazda 8728 (up 0.4 per cent)
Nissan 8225 (up 32 per cent)
Holden 7687 (down 20 per cent)
Hyundai 7505 (up 1 per cent)
Ford 6590 (down 5 per cent)
Volkswagen 4190 (up 1.4 per cent)
Honda 3862 (up 48 per cent)
Subaru 3104 (down 3.8 per cent)

Top-selling cars in February (and how they compare to the same month last year)

Mazda3 3378 (down 11 per cent)
Toyota HiLux 3319 (up 46 per cent)
Toyota Corolla 3158 (up 0.5 per cent)
Nissan Navara 2639 (up 30 per cent)
Mitsubishi Triton 2336 (up 72 per cent)
Hyundai i30 2055 (down 15 per cent)
Ford Ranger 1739 (up 118 per cent)
Holden Commodore 1733 (down 42 per cent)
Holden Cruze 1730 (down 39 per cent)
Nissan Dualis 1548 (up 70 per cent)

Confidential preliminary figures shared among the car industry.

Official February data from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries is due out later this week.

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