Category: Toyota

Categories
Motor Shows Toyota

Toyota FT-86 II Concept aims for Melbourne

Toyota FT-86 II Concept

Recent word from Toyota confirms their FT-86 II Concept, first revealed at Geneva in March, will be on show at this year’s Australian International Motor Show. In its new rotating host arrangement the 2011 show will be held in Melbourne (1–10 July).

Toyota Australia’s senior executive director sales and marketing David Buttner is excited by the ‘Toybaru’ FT-86 II Concept, stating, “It heralds a compact, rear-drive production car with the style, performance and handling demanded by those who regard driving as a passion rather than a necessity.”

Continue reading “Toyota FT-86 II Concept aims for Melbourne”
Categories
Holden Hyundai Kia Mazda Mitsubishi Toyota VFACTS reports

New vehicle sales report – April 2011

FCAI banner

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.

Continue reading “New vehicle sales report – April 2011”
Categories
Toyota

Toyota offers FT-86 II sound bites

Toyota FT-86 II

The Toyota FT-86 II is the car which is supposed to reignite the soul of the Japanese auto giant. A rear-wheel drive sports coupe with provocative styling is a pretty good place to start, too. Via their FT86club website Toyota has provided some sound clips of their new hero model.

Hmm, we’re sure it will sound better when being driven in anger, rather than revved while stationary. Check it out for yourself after the break. There’s a couple of bonus ‘Toybaru’ clips for you to view as well.

Continue reading “Toyota offers FT-86 II sound bites”
Categories
Audi Holden Hyundai Kia Mazda Subaru Toyota VFACTS reports

New vehicle sales report – March 2011

FCAI banner

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.

Continue reading “New vehicle sales report – March 2011”
Categories
Holden Hyundai Subaru Toyota VFACTS reports

New vehicle sales report – February 2011

FCAI banner

You can tell it’s not been a great month for new vehicle sales when less than a handful of companies issue press releases. That’s certainly been the case with February’s sales, which fell 1.6% on 2010 numbers.

FCAI Chief Executive Andrew McKellar is talking things up, though, claiming private buyers are out in force, “Sales to private customers increased 4.1 per cent during February to total 39,776 units—outselling business and fleet purchases. This is an encouraging indicator of the market and reflects a strong level of economic confidence.”

Toyota, Holden and Mazda retain their positions as the top three selling marques.

Continue reading “New vehicle sales report – February 2011”
Categories
Motor Shows Toyota

Geneva 2011: Toyota FT-86 II Concept

Toyota FT-86 II Concept

Toyota is claiming the cardigans are off and its passion for sports car driving is back with the launch of the FT-86 II Concept. It’s the latest effort in the Toyota–Subaru joint development. Based on the press release, this is also pretty much how the production version will look when it goes on sale in Europe next year.

Any company making an affordable rear-drive sportscar is to be applauded. When you consider the FT-86 will also have a trusty 6-speed manual gearbox, a free-revving boxer engine and a lightweight body, it’s no wonder this car is creating plenty of interest.

Indeed, Toyota say, “The FT-86 II is an entirely driver-oriented concept—designed to give form to the intrinsic joy of driving through precise, instantaneous responses to even the smallest throttle or steering input—for those who regard driving as a passion rather than a necessity.”

Sounds impressive. We’re not totally convinced by the looks of the FT 86 II, but we love its mission statement.

Continue reading “Geneva 2011: Toyota FT-86 II Concept”
Categories
Audi BMW Ferrari Ford Holden Hyundai Kia Mazda Mitsubishi Subaru Suzuki Toyota VFACTS reports Volkswagen

New vehicle sales report – December 2010

FCAI banner

Congratulations Australia, for just the third time ever we have managed to send over 1 million new vehicles out the door. To be exact, 1,035,574 passenger cars, SUVs and commercial vehicles found new homes in 2010 and that represents an increase of almost 100,000 sales on 2009 figures.

“This is an exceptional outcome and is the second highest result on record and only the third time ever that the market exceeded more than one million sales,” FCAI Chief Executive Andrew McKellar said.

“With continuing strong levels of vehicle affordability there is no reason why the new vehicle market won’t continue to perform better than other areas of the economy.”

Toyota was the highest selling marque in 2010, with 214,718 sales registered. Holden and Ford followed with 132,923 and 95,824 sales respectively.

Holden can claim still bragging rights, though, with the Commodore proving to be Australia’s most popular car for the fifteenth year in a row. Its 45,956 sales placed it ahead of the Toyota Corolla, on 41,632, and the Toyota Hilux, with an impressive 39,896 sales.

Meanwhile, a number of other marques are shouting from the rooftops about their new records set in 2010, including BMW, Hyundai, Mazda, Subaru, Suzuki and Volkswagen.

UPDATE 7 January: Audi, Kia and Mitsubishi have released their brag sheets today, too.

Continue reading “New vehicle sales report – December 2010”
Categories
Kia Mazda Mercedes-Benz Subaru Suzuki Toyota VFACTS reports

New vehicle sales report – November 2010

FCAI banner

VFACTS recorded a moderate increase in sales last month, up 1509 vehicles from November 2009. FCAI Chief Executive Andrew McKellar reckons the motor industry is performing well compared to other industries, “These figures show new car sales continue to outperform other economic indicators, including retail spending and business investment.

“Much of the strength of the market can be attributed to the affordability of new vehicles, evidenced by the healthy sales to private buyers (up 9.6% in November).”

McKellar predicts Australia will register over 1 million new vehicle sales in 2010, if so it will be just the third time this has happened.

Toyota, Holden and Ford maintain their positions as the top three selling brands.

Continue reading “New vehicle sales report – November 2010”
Categories
Audi Ford Holden Honda Hyundai Koenigsegg Lamborghini Lexus Lotus Maserati Mazda Mitsubishi Motor Shows Nissan Peugeot Porsche Range Rover Renault Skoda Suzuki Toyota Volkswagen Volvo

AIMS 2010: Photo gallery

AIMS 2010

Here is the AUSmotive photo gallery from the Australian International Motor Show industry day. There are 128 photos in all and you can simply click on each thumbnail to access a 2000px super image.

Highlights include a couple of track specials in the form of the awesome Porsche 911 GT3 Cup and the rear-engined V6 Renault Megane Trophy. Others to look out for are the Toyota FT-86G concept, the Ford Focus RS, a trio of Lamborghini Gallardos and the highly desirable Audi R8 V10 Spyder, which looks great in all white.

Dedicated articles on the following cars can be access by clicking on the links below:

A big thank you to Daniel McKenna who joined the AUSmotive crew at AIMS and brought you many of the pictures you see here.

Continue reading “AIMS 2010: Photo gallery”
Categories
Holden Hyundai Kia Mazda Subaru Toyota VFACTS reports

New vehicle sales report – September 2010

FCAI banner

Official VFACTS data released by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) showed that 85,054 passenger cars, SUVs and commercial vehicles were sold in September, up 8.9 per cent (or 6,923 vehicles) on the same month in 2009. It also represents a new record for the month of September, beating the old mark (2005) by 584 sales.

Toyota and Holden retain their place at the top of the charts, while perennial top-three challenger Mazda has once again knocked Ford back to fourth place.

Year-to-date sales now tally 780,720 and the full year prediction has been raised to over 1 million, up from the previous forecast of 980,000. It would be only the third time in Australia’s history that 1 million new cars have been sold in a calendar year.

Press releases from FCAI and various manufacturers are available after the break.

Continue reading “New vehicle sales report – September 2010”
Categories
Holden Hyundai Kia Mazda Subaru Suzuki Toyota VFACTS reports

New vehicle sales report – August 2010

FCAI banner

Official VFACTS data released by the FCAI states 82,122 new vehicles were sold in August, up 12.1% on the same month in 2009. Toyota, Holden and Ford retain the top-three positions on the sales charts.

Press releases from FCAI and various manufacturers are available after the break.

Continue reading “New vehicle sales report – August 2010”
Categories
Holden Hyundai Mazda Mercedes-Benz Subaru Suzuki Toyota VFACTS reports

New vehicle sales report – July 2010

FCAI banner

Last month’s high of 108,722 new vehicle sales came crashing back to earth in July. A comparatively low figure of 82,376 sales were registered. However, this result represents an increase of 9.3% on July 2009 data, so it’s not all bad news.

Andrew McKellar, FCAI Chief Executive, explains July usually provides a slow start to the new financial year, “This is a very solid result for July with the start of the new financial year usually resulting in slower sales.

“These figures provide further evidence that sales to private customers continue to increase strongly – recording a 20 per cent rise compared to this time last year,” Mr McKellar said.

If we go back to the results from May we can see sales across all segments were up almost 20% on 2009 figures. Year-to-date numbers have now eased a little, but are still up 15.6% compared to last year, with a total of 613,544 sales so far in 2010.

The SUV segment continues to lead the charge, with light commercials and passengers cars behind. Toyota and Holden retain their positions at the head of the sales chart. While Ford hung on to its third placing by a single sale over Mazda.

More from the FCAI and manufacturers after the break.

Continue reading “New vehicle sales report – July 2010”