Category: Kia

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New vehicle sales report – April 2012

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A total of 79,097 new vehicles were sold in April, official VFACTS numbers show. That’s an increase of 6.6% (4,833 sales) compared to same month last year.

While the demand for SUVs continues (27.6% of all monthly sales) there is an increasing trend for diesel powered SUVs, up 56% on the same month in 2011.

“Yet again, SUVs dominate the Australian vehicle market, with sales increasing for all sizes of SUVs in the private, business and rental sectors,” FCAI Chief Executive Ian Chalmers said. “This month however we can also see an interesting emergence of customer preference for diesel powered SUVs.”

The Hilux remains a leading product for Toyota and topped the sales charts in April, followed by the Mazda 3 and Toyota Corolla. No surprise to see Toyota heading sales figures, in front of Mazda and Holden.

Remind us why the Feds are supporting the Commodore and Falcon again?

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New vehicle sales report – March 2012

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Figures from the FCAI reveal 97,616 new vehicles were sold in March. Comfortably the best month of the year to date, it’s also a 3.9% increase on numbers from March 2011.

Seems we’ve still not come to our senses and continue to buy SUVs at a rate of knots. “SUVs continue to dominate Australian car sales, accounting for 28 per cent of all new car sales so far this year,” FCAI Chief Executive, Ian Chalmers said. “Combined with small passenger cars (23.6%) and light passenger cars (13.0%), these three segments make up 64.6 per cent of new cars sold this year.”

Toyota, Holden and Mazda were the three best selling marques. Although it’s a bit scary that Toyota sold almost as many cars as Holden and Mazda combined last month.

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New vehicle sales report – February 2012

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Last month Australians signed off on 85,723 new vehicle sales, that’s almost 5000 more than February last year. A bit over half of all vehicles sold were classified as passenger cars. Fair enough. But around one quarter, that’s one in every four sales, is now an SUV. Shame on you people!

FCAI Chief Executive, Ian Chalmers is just happy that punters are splashing their cash. “The SUV market has clearly made a strong connection with auto customers by meeting their diverse needs,” he said. “This is demonstrated by overall SUV sales being up 23.8 per cent (4,505) since last month and 26.6 per cent (9,578) compared with February last year.”

Toyota was miles ahead of its nearest competitor, Holden, on the overall sales charts. While Mazda is having a turn as the third best seller nation wide, a position that generally rotates between them, Ford and Hyundai.

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Kia Motor Shows

Chicago 2012: Kia Track’ster Concept

Kia Trackster Concept

If ever you wanted an example of how Kia has transformed itself from makers of awkward looking crap boxes to stylish models with genuine desirability then this new Kia Track’ster Concept is it. Really, that first-gen Rio, what were they thinking?

Clearly, today’s thinking is much better and while there’ll no doubt be a few who still raise their eyebrows at this Track’ster, unveiled at the 2012 Chicago Auto Show, we reckon the emerging Korean giant deserves a round of applause.

The Track’ster started life as a Soul, but Kia has given this concept a genuine soul designing the model to be daily driver with genuine track credentials.

“The idea was to make the Track’ster tough looking, like a bulldog,” said Tom Kearns, Chief Designer for Kia Motors America. “It had to be a bold interpretation that would change people’s conceptions of what a sporty Kia could be.”

Ensuring the Track’ster has the bark to match its bite Kia has fitted a 250hp (185kW) 2.0 litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine mated to an electronically controlled all-wheel drive system. A short shift 6-speed manual and lowered suspension complete the transformation.

Still, as good as this looks, it’s best you don’t start thinking this car will become a production reality. “Concept cars are icing on the cake,” said Kearns. “They allow KMA’s design team to dream about what could be. Whether that dream becomes a reality or not is a separate question.”

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Super Bowl XLVI ad: The one with Adriana Lima

Super Bowl XLVI ad - Kia and Adriana Lima

Kia has taken a leaf from the Jeremy Clarkson book of advertising for its Big Game Day Super Bowl XVLI television commercial. There’s loud music, Motley Crüe no less, explosions and, of course, Adriana Lima. Making sure they got bang for buck with the supermodel they have also upload a five hour video showcasing Lima’s flag waving prowess. No, we’re not kidding!

Oh yeah, the ad is for the Kia Optima. Almost forgot that bit.

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New vehicle sales report – December 2011

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Australia registered over one million new vehicle sales in 2011 the latest FCAI press release reveals. The final tally of 1,008,437 represents the fourth time the country has passed one million sales in a calendar year.

Despite dropping more than 27,000 sales (-2.6%) on 2010 numbers, FCAI chief executive Ian Chalmers reminds us this is still something the motor industry should be proud of.

“2011 full year sales are an exceptional result given the effects of natural disasters both at home and abroad throughout the year,” Mr Chalmers said.

“The uptake of new vehicles was impacted early in the year by economic uncertainty, closely followed by natural disasters in the key markets of Western Australia, Victoria and Queensland.

“Sales were further subdued by Japan’s devastating earthquake and tsunami, with a resulting shortage of export vehicles from that country a secondary outcome of the extreme loss of life experienced by the Japanese people.”

The top three highest selling brands in 2011 were Toyota (181624 sales), Holden (126,095) and Ford (91,243).

Illustrating the continuing demand for smaller cars in the local market the Mazda3 was the highest selling model in Australia last year with 41,429 sales. Traditional volume seller Holden Commodore (40 617) was close behind and the Toyota Hilux (36,124) maintained its recent grip at the top of the sales charts.

More detail and 2012 forecasts from FCAI after the break.

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New vehicle sales report – November 2011

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Hold on tight everyone Australia should crack 1,000,000 car sales in 2011 after VFACTS figures show 88,654 new vehicles were sold in November. That brings the year to date total to 925,978, which should allow the 1 million mark to be broken for only the fourth time in Australia’s history.

“For the past four months in a row sales have been trending above the same period for 2010. This suggests improving consumer confidence in Australia’s economic prospects,” FCAI chief executive Ian Chalmers said.

Although, it is worth noting the final tally for 2011 will fall short of last year’s total of 1,035,574 sales.

As usual Toyota topped the charts for the month (17,436 sales), followed by Holden (9,761) and Ford (8,103).

For the fourth month in 2011 the Toyota Corolla was Australia’s highest-selling car (3,731). Close behind was the rather more bearable Mazda3 (3,480) and the tradies’ favourite Toyota HiLux (3,332).

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New vehicle sales report – September 2011

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Despite the demise of the Rick Damelian empire, one of Sydney’s largest dealership networks, new vehicle sales were buoyant last month. A total of 86,819 sales were registered, an increase of 1765 (2.1%) on the same month last year.

Year-to-date a total of 752,128 new vehicles have been sold and the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries remains hopeful 1 million sales can be reached for the fourth consecutive year.

New FCAI chief executive Ian Chalmers says, “Reduced sales in the second quarter of 2011 have set a challenging target for the final three months of the year, but industry resolve is high

“Sales stimulus by means of competition in the marketplace saw the third quarter end strongly, and we are now looking toward continued growth through to the end of the year.”

Toyota, Holden and Ford were the highest selling brands for September. While Corolla, Commodore and Hilux were the most purchased model lines.

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New vehicle sales report – August 2011

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Things are looking up as far as new vehicle sales in Australia are concerned. At total of 88,082 sales were recorded in August. That’s up 7091 compared to the previous month and 5960 more than August 2010.

Steve Payne, FCAI acting Chief Executive, explains the market is trending upwards after a slow start to 2011, “We’re continuing to see a recovery in supply from earthquake and tsunami-damaged Japan, along with stronger sales in Queensland as the state recovers from severe weather events earlier in the year.”

The real news is that the Mazda3 knocked the Holden Commodore of its perch as the country’s highest selling car. While Toyota comfortably held its position as the highest selling marque, ahead of Holden and Mazda.

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New vehicle sales report – June 2011

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Apologies for missing last month’s update and for those keeping score Holden actually pipped Toyota to the highest selling marque for May. A result largely due to supply issues in Japan following the tsunami earlier this year. Indeed the total sales for May were 77,406 a fall of 13.2% on 2010 figures.

And so it has remained in June. Holden still holds the title of highest selling brand (12,827) just ahead of Toyota (12,514). Ford has knocked Hyundai off the ever-revolving third place position on the sales charts (9,216).

In all 96,157 vew vehicles were delivered in June, a healthy increase on May’s figures, but still down 11.6% on 2010 numbers; which was a record for single month sales.

FCAI chief executive Andrew McKellar said, “Manufacturers and distributors affected by the Japanese natural disaster are reporting a reliable return of supply. We would expect the effect to dissipate over coming months.”

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New vehicle sales report – April 2011

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April’s Easter and Anzac day holiday break is being cited as the cause for an 8.8% drop in sales compared to 2010 figures. In all 74,214 new vehicles were sold.

Japanese marques are expected to have temporary ongoing supply issues following the unfortunate earthquake and tsunami.

Toyota and Holden continue their reign as the country’s top two selling brands. However, in April, they gain a rare visit from Hyundai in third place, ahead of usual rivals Ford and Mazda.

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New vehicle sales report – March 2011

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March was another month without much fanfare as far as vehicle sales go. The official press release from FCAI is very matter of fact.

In real terms, though, the numbers don’t seem too bad. A total of 93,984 sales were registered, a drop of just under 1% compared to March 2010.

FCAI Chief Executive Andrew McKellar seemed to dismiss the drop in sales by saying, “Notwithstanding slightly lower sales during the month, the demand for new vehicles is broadly consistent with other retail and consumer demand indicators.”

Toyota and Holden remain unchallenged in their respective one and two positions on the sales charts. While it is Ford’s turn to hold the number three mantle from Mazda.

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