VFACTS May 2010

[Falc'man]

Originally Posted by vztrt

When I did work there I knew the small cars had small profits, Ford US has come out and said that the small cars they sell have little profit for them. I don't need their profit and loss statement to know their isn't that much of a profit margin.

That is the general rule in this industry; larger cars make larger profits.

In that vid with Mulally they said it's a few hundred dollars profit for the small cars as opposed to over $25,000 profit for the F trucks.

[Bossxr8]

Small cars aren't really that much cheaper to make than large cars, but large cars sell for a hell of a lot more. Shows that the profit margins on large cars are so much higher, and also shows why Ford could not make any money making the next Focus.

Australia builds large cars for a reason. They could not survive making small cars.

[Joe5619]

Originally Posted by vztrt

When I did work there I knew the small cars had small profits, Ford US has come out and said that the small cars they sell have little profit for them. I don't need their profit and loss statement to know their isn't that much of a profit margin.

Whilst I agree with that theory in principle I don’t in this case... We are not comparing an Australian developed, designed & built Large car vs. an Australian developed, designed & built small car... We are comparing a globally (sold all over the world) developed, designed & built (in massive numbers) small car vs. and Australian (very small market) only developed, designed & built large... Not exactly oranges for oranges...

Unless you know the costing of both cars, you can’t say for sure that the small carhas a smaller margin!! You could be right, but you dont know is my point!!

[Brazen]

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

Small cars aren't really that much cheaper to make than large cars, but large cars sell for a hell of a lot more. Shows that the profit margins on large cars are so much higher, and also shows why Ford could not make any money making the next Focus.

Australia builds large cars for a reason. They could not survive making small cars.

It doesnt matter what size of car it is, it matters what you sell it for. Our fleet prices for Falcon are not that much more than a Focus LX, there is no way Ford are making much more profit on a fleet Falcon than what they do for a Focus.

Of course Australia can build small cars. All of the investment decisions in the past were built on the notion that people buy large cars as it was the biggest segment and you could make the most money from it. Toyota stopped the Corolla as in the early 90s they were only selling small cars at 0 profit to rental fleets and others. Now there is 50% more Corollas being sold and many of them to high profit private buyers. Mazda 3 is the biggest selling private car on the market, bang right in the Focus segment. I bet Commodore or Falcon arnt even in the top ten.

Even Burela said it was a travesty that Australian car makers do not make small cars with the way the market changed. I guess he didnt feel comfortable securing local production with the Focus and its derivatives such as Kuga, hybrid, electric and Focus ute when there were doubts with the next gen Falcon not being approved or confirmed which would of made the whole project unviable if Falcon was no longer being produced. With Focus secured and Falcon scrapped it would of made the whole process more messy than going to a straight import status like Mazda or Nissan.

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by Brazen

Even Burela said it was a travesty that Australian car makers do not make small cars with the way the market changed. I guess he didnt feel comfortable securing local production with the Focus and its derivatives such as Kuga, hybrid, electric and Focus ute when there were doubts with the next gen Falcon not being approved or confirmed which would of made the whole project unviable if Falcon was no longer being produced. With Focus secured and Falcon scrapped it would of made the whole process more messy than going to a straight import status like Mazda or Nissan.

He also said that things had changed and that making the Focus in Australia was not feasible,
the change is Mullally's edict: "Every vehicle Ford sells will make a profit, period."

[vztrt]

http://www.theage.com.au/small-busin...0621-yrke.html

Vehicle sales fell in May
June 21, 2010 - 4:18PM

A fall in the number of new car sales in May isn't a sign of consumer weakness, but a statistical hiccup, economists say.

New motor vehicle sales in Australia fell 3.2 per cent in May, seasonally adjusted, to 88,484 units, from an upwardly revised 91,374 units in April, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said today.

In the year to May, new motor vehicle sales rose 16.4 per cent.

CommSec economist Savanth Sebastian said the monthly fall was the result of statistical variation because of the number of trading days in the month.

"It's clearly due to the way the industry records car sales. If it's before December 31, the sale is only recognised at the point of delivery," he said.

"Some of those vehicles are only being delivered now.

"I think the seasonally adjusted process, when you take into account the number of trading days in the month, you lose some of those gains."

Mr Sebastian said the fall came after the series posted its highest number of car sales in eight months in April.

"Car sales have remained quite strong and the market will consolidate those gains.

ICAP economist Adam Carr said sales remained strong.

"When you look at the almost 10 per cent jump (in April), (the dip) was very small," he said.

"The May data shows very solid growth in vehicle sales.

"Consumers have cash. They're not stressed."

AAP

[smoo]

Well Ford had a good month in New Zealand, being the best selling maker with the Falcon, Territory and Mondeo in the top ten!

http://www.aa.co.nz/motoring/news/Do...ales_stats.pdf

[vztrt]

Toyota owners stay loyal

http://www.goauto.com.au/mellor/mell...25774A001544B0

Bad news from the US fails to dent Toyota buyer intentions in Australia

22 June 2010

By JOHN MELLOR

TOYOTA has escaped brand loyalty erosion among its Australian owners in the wake of the recall scandal that plagued the company in the United States.

Earlier this year, the world’s biggest car-maker recalled more than eight million vehicles globally to fix sticking accelerators and hybrid braking problems, but the latter was the only issue to affect Australia, where a total of just 2378 Prius cars were recalled in February.

Now, in a key indicator that Toyota Australia quarantined its reputation in Australia while the US media and US Congress went to war against the company, customer loyalty research by Roy Morgan shows Toyota with the third-best owner loyalty in the country.

The research shows that in March this year, at the height of the negative publicity flowing out of America, which included cartoons in Australian newspapers depicting Toyotas as hearses, 61 per cent of Toyota owners in Australia said they would buy another Toyota in the next four years.

This also translates into Toyota sales support so far this year, with Toyota holding its own by increasing sales broadly in line with the growth of the market.

At the same time, Hyundai sales have surged by 55.5 per cent, but the rapidly growing Korean brand has made few inroads in the coveted area of brand loyalty, in which it continues to trail Toyota – and all mainstream vehicle brands except Mitsubishi – by a significant margin.

Toyota owner loyalty was third behind Subaru with 63.5 per cent of Subaru owners saying their next car will be another Subaru, and Volkswagen, which has 62 per cent of its owners saying they will buy a VW again next time.

The Roy Morgan Single Source survey between March 2005 and March 2010 is based on 1000 interviews each weekend culminating in 50,000 interviews over 12 months across a wide range of consumer views.

The car data, contained in the Roy Morgan Automotive Currency Report, comes from more than 37,800 people who said they would buy a new car in the next four years. The charts are based on a 12-month moving average, so any movement up or down is a significant trend.

Here is how the main players are faring:

Subaru:

The figures confirm that Subaru has developed a remarkably strong affinity with its owners, but some of the sheen has been lost over the past five years. During 2005 surveys, Subaru had as many as 73 per cent of its owners saying they would buy another Subaru.

The slide of 10 percentage points to 63.5 per cent today suggests the company will have to marshal increased marketing resources to make up for the owners who are no longer automatically presenting themselves at Subaru dealerships.

Volkswagen:

Volkswagen owner support swung wildly between 50 per cent and 65 per cent in the years 2005 to 2007. Since 2008 it has made steady gains from 50 per cent to 62 per cent by March 2010. VW now has the second most loyal owners.

Toyota:

Probably the most consistent performer, Toyota has hovered around the 60 per cent customer loyalty mark for the past five years. An uplift in late 2009 flattened off in the first quarter of 2010 as possibly the only evidence that recalls may have been in the back of some buyers’ minds.

Mazda:

About 48 per cent of Mazda owners said they would buy another Mazda in 2005 and that had run up to 58 per cent by late last year. Loyalty has since eased to about 55 per cent this year.

Honda:

Honda once enjoyed 64 per cent loyalty in 2006 but has seen a steep decline in the past 12 months and now sits at 52 per cent. It is another candidate for finding a way to retrieve what was a strong owner loyalty position.

Holden:

With 57 per cent loyalty in 2005, Holden has been on a steady long-term decline over the past five years, although the decline seems to have been arrested since mid-2008. It is now at 46 per cent.

[russellw]

Some interesting data there in terms of the Ford brand loyalty - it certainly hasn't slipped as much as Holden has but at less than half it isn't good.

Also worth noting is the improvement in the figures for Hyundai (no doubt a result of improving product and quality) and the fact that Mitsubishi has remained steady despite the well publicised woes.

Cheers
Russ

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by russellw

Some interesting data there in terms of the Ford brand loyalty - it certainly hasn't slipped as much as Holden has but at less than half it isn't good.

I noticed this as well. While Ford are still slipping you could take it as their quality is getting better and they are keeping the repeat buyer (which is a lot cheaper then to get new buyers). I noticed a couple of the japanese makes (Honda and Nissan) are losing buyers.

[phillyc]

Originally Posted by vztrt

I noticed this as well. While Ford are still slipping you could take it as their quality is getting better and they are keeping the repeat buyer (which is a lot cheaper then to get new buyers). I noticed a couple of the japanese makes (Honda and Nissan) are losing buyers.

The way I read it is that every brand is losing customers, with the exception of Hyundai and Mazda. I put this down to the increased spread of brands on offer and greater diversity of models mean there are many more options.

GMHolden's Korean-isation with 2nd rate Daewoo models is making them drop the most. They were 57% and now have 46% versus Ford which were at 46% and are now at 42%.

Ford will by offering better vehicles rise again. It just takes time.

[ford man xf]

Read in todays Herald Sun that so far this year Ford has made 21,873 Falcons and Holden has made 23,972 Commodores.
You would be willing to bet Ford has sold more Falcon sedans than Holden Commodore sedans.
Who knows the Falcon may take the lead between to the 2 later this year, not that it would really matter as Ford are comfortable selling the Falcon the way it is and Holden seem intent on keeping the Commodore in the No. 1 sales spot no matter what the cost to them.

[Bossxr8]

I think Falcon will have a big month in June, Territory numbers seem to have been sacrificed and FG production has increased a fair bit.

Maybe Ford have realised they are getting pretty close to the Commodore and may be having a crack at knocking it off, at least I hope so anyway.

[drew`SEVNT5]

Originally Posted by Paxton

Don't get me started on how they lost a 25 year contract with Australia post to Mercedes.

Wouldn't have anything to do with rumors that there is someone at AusPost with influence who is ex MBAPau?

I have heard thats the reason they have given some of the other truck brands the boot for there bigger stuff...