Holden heading backwards

[HSVKILLA]

Holden has taken a huge hit in the Kiwi new car market, with the once glittering brand now making only one sale to every four sales made by Toyota.

Figures collated by the Motor Industry Association show the Holden brand, principally known for the Commodore but also selling certain rebadged Korean and European cars, took only 7.5% of the new car market in October. Toyota took 31%. Ford was second with 12.81%. Mazda was third with 7.60%.

In the past two decades, Holden was accustomed to being the number two brand behind Toyota, or sometimes number three. But in October it slipped to number four.

The sales table saw Mazda slide in ahead of Holden, new territory for Mazda.

Holden’s slide appears to be due to its heavy reliance on the Commodore model, a car whose large size is now deterring some buyers. Holden’s sales in New Zealand would be even lower were it not for an ongoing contract to renew the police fleet.

Total sales of new cars for October were down 12 percent on the same month last year.

The market results were notable for another factor: New car sales exceeded registrations of used imports for the first time since 1994.

Several factors are likely to have contributed to this. Used cars have become more expensive for dealers to buy in Japan due to increased competition from other countries to purchase them.

The New Zealand dollar has weakened against the yen. A number of dealers in used cars in New Zealand have closed down due to difficult market conditions.

And prices of new cars have been attractive enough to the public to cause many to consider a new car instead of a used one.