Most popular vehicle in Australia ever?

[naddis01]

Ok guys i was reading on another site about which cars have been the most popular (sales wise) around the world and it got me wondering what the most popular car has been in Australia. So quick question, does anyone know, preferably with figures, which car has been the most popular here? I am guessing the Falcon has to be in the running surely seeing as though it has been around for 50 years.

[Iggypoppin']

At the time XF sold so many units it wasn't funny, so too the EF/EL series and BA when it came out. Sales figures you can find by searching my thread history and it's in there somewhere under "Ford sales figures". I asked the question and got a comprehensive list of the total fords sold that where falcons from xk to fg.

[Auslandau]

Australian made cars would have to include HQ, XF, EL/F. Quantities based on the amount of players there are would have something to do with it ....... back in them olden days, Korea didn't come into it and anything European was just unadulterated prestige unlike the amount on offer today. When they released the P5 LTD they sold 7,000 which was massive in the mid 70's for the highest priced Australian produced car on the market.

Surprising the XF was so successful with no V8 as option ...... 278,000 sold in only 4 year run. How many would have sold if there was an ESP XF 351~?

Nearly 500,000 HQ's were sold ....... between 71 & 74 compared to 130,00 XA's

[Ford_The_Win]

Dare I say it, it's probably the good ole Falcon. The fact that they've been around for 51 years and have sold very well up until recently helps. If we're talking one singular model, then the HQ definitely takes that prize.

[naddis01]

I guess I should clarify. I should have said what is Australia's most successful nameplate ever, rather than individual model.

[Iggypoppin']

Falcon for sure. 50 years vs commodores 25 odd.

[russellw]

For Ford there are two ways of looking at it:

1. Total of any given model built where the order is:

XF Falcon 278,101
BA Falcon 261,396
AU Falcon 235,990



2. Annualised Production:

XA Falcon 101,739
BA Falcon 89,621
EF Falcon 88.652




There are graphs for this data along with the Holden models in the Tech Section

Sorry iggypoppin' but the Falcon name-plate had sold 3,236,441 up to the end of BF while the Holden equivalent (pre Commodore) had sold 3,261,219. IF we include the Commodore then the Holden total to the end of VZ is 5,672,913. The Falcon will have overtaken the pre-Commodore Holden by now but it took a long time when we bear in mind that pre Falcon sales for Holden only gave them an 812,000 unit head start!

In the Holden camp their top 3 for total sales are:

HQ Holden 485,650
VT Commodore 303,895
VS Commodore 277,774

.. on an annualised basis:

EH Holden 192,719
HG Holden 169,949
HT Holden 169,294

Cheers
Russ

[naddis01]

So the Falcon nameplate is the highest selling nameplate in Australia so far then.

[Polyal]

I would have never guessed the XA to have the highest annual production...there you go. Their not that plentiful anymore!

[BENT_8]

Originally Posted by naddis01

So the Falcon nameplate is the highest selling nameplate in Australia so far then.

Considering it has been around for 50 years, you'd want to think so...

[Polyal]

Also interesting to see the three highest annual figures correspond with 3 big changes, XA, EF and BA.

And no disrespect to the XF, but why did that sell so comparatively well...And the EB, even though a decent car, really suffered from the EA saga. Its all very interesting.

[russellw]

By way of comparison, the Corolla sold 1.068,052 million units over the 42 years since it was launched (1968-2010).

Cheers
Russ

[BENT_8]

Originally Posted by Polyal

Also interesting to see the three highest annual figures correspond with 3 big changes, XA, EF and BA.

And no disrespect to the XF, but why did that sell so comparatively well...And the EB, even though a decent car, really suffered from the EA saga. Its all very interesting.

You have to remember the average buyer isnt an enthusiast.
Quite often the XF is bagged on here as the v8 was dropped, but apart from that fact,the car itself was fantastic when compared to its rival.
The XF was released during the VK commy run, which, with its black 'death knock' motor was a poor competitor.
It then continued through an interesting time in Holdens history when the public were suspicious of the new nissan powerplant on offer.
It sold fantastically well to fleet purchasers, in particularly Taxi owners who agreed it was the best model ever.

[Ford_The_Win]

Originally Posted by BENT_8

You have to remember the average buyer isnt an enthusiast.
Quite often the XF is bagged on here as the v8 was dropped, but apart from that fact,the car itself was fantastic when compared to its rival.
The XF was released during the VK commy run, which, with its black 'death knock' motor was a poor competitor.
It then continued through an interesting time in Holdens history when the public were suspicious of the new nissan powerplant on offer.
It sold fantastically well to fleet purchasers, in particularly Taxi owners who agreed it was the best model ever.

Yep that's exactly right. Basically there was no real competition for Falcon. The Commodore nameplate was still new and up against the Falcon which had been around for ages, and was the only one of the Big 3 original nameplates to make it into the 80s. The size of the Commodore and other midsize cars was a big disadvantage as well - made the Commo practically useless as a taxi and government/fleet vehicle, as well as putting off a lot of private buyers who were still looking for space. That and the XF was practically bulletproof with a solid reputation for reliability.

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by Polyal

Also interesting to see the three highest annual figures correspond with 3 big changes, XA, EF and BA.

And no disrespect to the XF, but why did that sell so comparatively well...And the EB, even though a decent car, really suffered from the EA saga. Its all very interesting.

It wasn't so much that Ford was doing really well with the XF, rather that Holden was doing so poorly with VK, they were finished until GM bailed them out. And the XF was a bigger car that also had better economy. Thats a massive selling point.

[Auslandau]

Also, the XF arrived with that interior in the Ghia along with the Fairlane and LTD which was amazing for the times with the digital dash, trip computer, wonderful seats and that little vent that moved Still one of the better interiors and was so far removed from the standard cars

[Resurrection]

The Falcon name is both one of the world's oldest and longest enduring.

[Paull]

Originally Posted by Auslandau

y. When they released the P5 LTD they sold 7,000 which was massive in the mid 70's for the highest priced Australian produced car on the market.

Not quite Dave. P5 = 5890 LTD's to be precise and 1385 Landau's. Whereas the P6 LTD had a total of 5896.

[Auslandau]

Originally Posted by Paull

Not quite Dave. P5 = 5890 LTD's to be precise and 1385 Landau's. Whereas the P6 LTD had a total of 5896.

Yes true, the Landaus are in that figure but not bad for the times and was brave of Ford at the time (Especially with the Landau) ...... shame the numbers weren't there in the last few years.

[burnz]

the kingswood would have more sales than commodore..

[302 XC]

Although the HQ was a big seller for holden
It did run for a long time
(stick to a good thing ???)
But im sure the EH sold more in a shorter time

The name "falcon" isnt it the longest run name ,ever ???

[aussie muscle]

If you'd asked me the biggest selling falcon year model, i'd have never guessed XF.

[BENT_8]

Originally Posted by 302 XC

Although the HQ was a big seller for holden
It did run for a long time
(stick to a good thing ???)

No longer than the XF, infact the HQ sold very well during the days of the 'win on Sunday, sell on Monday' line which is ironic for two reasons.

A/ The HQ wasnt the weapon of choice for Holden at that stage.

B/ The XY won Bathurst yet only sold 166,000 examples.

Go figure

[jlef5]

Originally Posted by russellw

EH Holden 192,719
HG Holden 169,949
HT Holden 169,294

Cheers
Russ

Haha go the mighty EH

[Fairlane]

Holden sold over 300,000 VT Commodores, so well above the Falcons XF figure. Unfotunately Id reckon the figure for Commodores sold in Australia would be up near the figure for 50yrs of Falcons.

Interesting point Holden as sold over 1 million HQ to HZ vehicles, pretty impressive considering they are pretty much the same car over a period of less than 10 years.

[fordOwner]

Originally Posted by Fairlane

Holden sold over 300,000 VT Commodores, so well above the Falcons XF figure. Unfotunately Id reckon the figure for Commodores sold in Australia would be up near the figure for 50yrs of Falcons

What I was thinking too.

[Ford_The_Win]

Originally Posted by Fairlane

Holden sold over 300,000 VT Commodores, so well above the Falcons XF figure. Unfotunately Id reckon the figure for Commodores sold in Australia would be up near the figure for 50yrs of Falcons.

Interesting point Holden as sold over 1 million HQ to HZ vehicles, pretty impressive considering they are pretty much the same car over a period of less than 10 years.

The difference being that the HQ-HZ were good cars in their day and deserved to sell well, they were built like a battleship. Most VS Commodores that are still getting around are rattling, crumbling abominations.

[naddis01]

Originally Posted by Fairlane

Holden sold over 300,000 VT Commodores, so well above the Falcons XF figure. Unfotunately Id reckon the figure for Commodores sold in Australia would be up near the figure for 50yrs of Falcons.

Interesting point Holden as sold over 1 million HQ to HZ vehicles, pretty impressive considering they are pretty much the same car over a period of less than 10 years.

From Russ' figures above there have been 2,411,694 Commodores sold to the end of VZ and 3,236,441 Faclons sold to the end of BF. I doubt they would have sold an extra 824,747 Commodores over and above Falcon since then.

[JG34JA]

Originally Posted by Ford_The_Win

The difference being that the HQ-HZ were good cars in their day and deserved to sell well, they were built like a battleship. Most VS Commodores that are still getting around are rattling, crumbling abominations.

+1,000,000 to that.

Great engineering in them as well, total Australian design. The large partial front chassis-semi monocoque is an amazing structure. Coils all round back then too. Just for laughs, compare the A pillar on a HQ-WB to that of a VE! The Kingswoods hold the open road much better than early Commodores as icing on the cake...

[JG34JA]

...and before anyone flames for crediting Holdens on a Ford site, I'd like to draw attention to the wonderful engineering under every AU Falcon, particularly those with IRS... It completely shaded the VT-VX, so much more sophistication, so much stronger components, they were built with fewer faults per 1000 for the whole model run, what more to say really? AU's are currently getting cheap, and Commys sold more, but if you want a spiritual successor to the Bl**dy Well Engineered Aussie Car that HQ-WB were, Ford produced it between 1998 and 2002...