22 wheelsmag.com.au
HIGHLIGHTSApril may have been a tough month, down 5.1 percent
year-on-year as national holidays kept buyers pre-occupied, but not for
everyone. Japanese brands Honda and Mitsubishi both bumped up sales
more than 30 percent, while Subaru cracked a rise of more than 20 percent.
Kia outpaced its sister brand, Hyundai, to also post a 30-plus percent
growth spurt. Porsche, meanwhile, exactly matched March’s 371 sales as the
Macan SUV exactly matched its 868 year-to-date sales with last year. Neat!LOWLIGHTSMon dieu!Frenchies Citroen, Peugeot and Renault, and
Renault’s bed partner Nissan, all struggled, as did off-road specialists Land
Rover and Jeep. Mercedes-Benz eclipsed Audi and BMW combined, while
luxury car rival – if we can call it that – Infiniti cut sales by more than
80% for the month to just 25. SUVs ended a two-month run of dominating
passenger-car sales, falling 779 short. And once again, two tradie utes – the
Toyota Hilux (3430) and Ford Ranger (3120) – topped the charts.Down, down; sales are down
MIDDLE WEIGHTS
APR
2017JUNE 2017
1 Toyota Corolla 2555 1 2959
2 Mazda 3 2313 2 2512
3 Mazda CX-5 2166 6 1675
4Hyundaii30 1979 3 4143
5ToyotaCamry 1885 4 1511
6 Hyundai Tucson 1530 5 1302
7 Kia Cerato 1490 10 1058
8 Mitsubishi ASX 1451 16 1058
9 Holden Commodore 1441 7 1908
10 Toyota RAV4 1389 8 1524
11 Mitsubishi Outlander 1343 11 598
12 Toyota Prado 1301 17 1329
13 Mazda CX-3 1195 12 1604
14 Hyundai Accent 1186 13 1555
15 Volkswagen Golf 1151 14 1811
16 Subaru Forester 1054 18 1087
17 Subaru Impreza 1022 22 369
18 Kia Sportage 1001 19 724
19 Honda Civic 985 32 35
20 Toyota Kluger 939 23 946TOP 20
63,515
Passenger & SUV sales – April 2017
PASSENGER CARS SALES RANK SALES
(MAR ’17) (APR’16)1 Toyota 16,090 1 16,567
2 Mazda 8603 2 8630
3 Hyundai 6850 3 8643
4 Holden 5804 5 6710
5 Ford 5802 6 6842
6 Mitsubishi 5407 4 4178
7 Kia 4120 10 3025
8 Volkswagen 3867 8 4732
9 Subaru 3854 9 3156
10 Nissan 3350 7 4044
11 Mercedes-Benz 3312 11 3303
12 Honda 2827 12 2107
13 BMW 1802 13 2456
14 Isuzu Ute 1665 14 1598
15 Audi 1391 17 1726
16 Suzuki 1191 15 1328
17 Lexus 689 19 802
=18 Jeep 677 20 1070
=18 Renault 677 18 988
20 Land Rover 552 16 926TOTAL SALES
83,135
April 2017
BRANDS SALES RANK SALES
(MAR ’17) (APR ’16)MarketPlace
HONDA CIVIC
Honda’s small
sedan shot up
to No.19 with a
bullet in April,
giving rivals
including the
Kia Cerato,
Volkswagen
Golf, and Subaru
Imprezaafright.
Asharp-looking
hatch version
has just landed.FORD
This time last
year, Ford had
nudged ahead
of Holden in the
monthly sales
race for the
first time since
1999.Thisyearit
almost happened
again, with Ford
coming within
three sales
of besting its
showroom rival,
mostly thanks to
the huge success
of its Thai-built
Ranger pick-up.LOSERDECREASE41%
WINNERINCREASE72%
How the
spoils of the
medium-SUV
category were
divided by
the top six
modelsHOLDEN TRAX
Yep,it’sasalesresulttomakebabySUVs
blub.Volumeinthissegmentfell5percentBMW 5 SERIES
BMW’s all-new large executive sedan
shifted211unitsinitsfirstfullmonth
on sale almost eclipsing its rival the overallbuttheTraxsdownhillrunto
showhowscscondonditiitionsons
slipppperyy.MIDDLEWEIGHTS
on sale, almost eclipsing its rival, the
Mercedes-Benz E-Class. But Benz now
has the AMG E43 fi for it...overall,,but the Trax sd
jusjust3t3 6363 forforththememontonthshs
underneath can be a bitMAZDA CX-5 2166HYUNDAI TUCSON
1530TOYOTA RAV4 1389MITSUBISHI
OUTLANDER 1343SUBARU FORESTER
1054
KIA SPORTAGE 10012019 Rangie Evoque off the leash
Seriously plumped guards hiding what looks to be
a wider track — although the wheelbase appears
to be the same — suggest the already dynamically
adept Evoque will gain even more athleticism
when the next generation arrives early in 2019.
Along with the broader beam, beefier body panelsaround the rear suggest the Evoque will grow in
size to alleviate some of the impracticality resulting
from the current car’s sleek design. Expect a 2.0-
litre Ingenium turbo-four engine under the bonnet,
possibly in a hybrid arrangement, as well as a
corner-carving SVR-badged version.
Red
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e
Spy
Cam