In no small feat, according to the February 2019 VFACTS sales figures, the Toyota HiLux outsells Holden. Not just outsells the Colorado, but in the month of February 2019, Toyota sold more HiLuxes than Holden sold vehicles. This includes the the Astra, Trailblazer, Acadia, Colorado, Commodore, Equinox and Trax models in the Holden line-up.
With the death of the rear-wheel drive V6 and V8-powered Commodore, and rise of the front and all-wheel drive model, sales of the Holden staple have slumped. Added to this the average sales of the Colorado, and the Toyota HiLux outsells Holden in its entirety.
In what is just that much more proof that the Australian market has shifted strongly toward dual-cab utes, the Toyota HiLux, Ford Ranger, and Mitsubishi Triton have taken out the top three spots in the overall vehicle sales rankings.
The Toyota HiLux sold 4431 units, up 0.1% from January; the Ford Ranger sold 3377 units, down 4.7%; and the Mitsubishi Triton sold 3155, up a massive 66.6% from January (the new model release has helped quite a bit it would seem, despite that wayward bottle jack).
One of the greatest motivators for purchase of the new HiLux, is that the flagship SR5 model has been selling out at $52,990 which is some $9000 less than the RRP. Heavy discounting also saw Triton sales surge late last year, with the end of the previous model.
So now that the HiLux outsells Holden completely, let us know your thoughts below on whether or not you think this is the beginning of the end of the Aussie brand.
82 comments
RIP Holden…long live the Chev
They are not utes they are Pick-ups utes disappeared with Ford and Holden you can’t live in the past
Bring back rear wheel drive v6 and v8..
Unfortunately Holden is not Holden any more,( R.I.P), No Aussie built cars means a lot to Australians and with all the distance, gravel roads and boat ramps in OZ people still want rear wheel drive vehicles (I thought all the motor industry gurus knew that) ?…
Should be the end of all Holdens! They are now Opel build.
Holden’s biggest mistake was going into partnership with a below average Korean brand. No matter how good their cars are now, it will take people a long time to forget the Craptiva, or the Crude, and their stablemates. Apart from power, I’ll take a D Max any day over a Colorado. I can always chip it up
Yep holden may fail completely. They gotta get the next commodore from within GM,not like the current model. Colorado needs a new name and a lot more quality.
If Holden mass produced an affordable GM LS based Colorado it may sell ok. Tradies love the LS V8. There are conversions already but nothing mass produced or affordable. Holdens love affair with terribly unreliable and boring Opel cars will be their end. Toyota are and always have been a solid product.
You do realise that the Dmax is essentially the same car as the Colorado. Current model Colorado is miles better than dmax. Especially in the drive train department.
Sooner gone the better..always were duds from day one.
All about the looks. Hilux is one great looking truck.
Geriatric type comment, probably owened a holden sunbird previously or a shit itself falcon.
Geriatric type comment, probably owened a holden sunbird previously or a shit itself falcon.
Holden & GM both stuffed up by not bringing the Camaro over in right hand drive.The average joe can’t afford a HSV at around $90K. Why would you pay that when you can get a mustang for around $60K.? GM doesn’t Give a toss about Australia even though we built better cars than they could.
HOLDEN died on 27.10.2019!
Holden have earned their new market standing by offering low build quality and vehicles which are not what the market in general wants over a very long period of time. Glad to see them go.
Are you American?in Australia they are called utes ,in USA they are called pickup’s.
Get with the program!!!!!
I don’t see how a V8 rear wheel drive SUPERCAR is representitive of the Insignia Holden, which is sold as a V6 all wheel drive.
Holden f’d up. Now what? I was always a loyal holden fan. But now I am happy to buy ford. F you holden. How are you going to recover from this? This is not America! Why let America GM, F it up for us Australia?
Holden have very short memories. What has happened every single time they have imposed Opel on the Australian public? They tank! They are treating aussies like idiots and we are all turning to the single most reliable vehicle brand ever produced, Toyota. RIP Holden. You get what you deserve.
The Toyota HiLux is the most under powered, roughest riding, most expensive, and has the least tech of all 4wd utes available, yet is the top seller. Go figure.
So they will die in October this year?
do you just cut and paste the same mindless comment every time Tony?
especially love that tablet looking thing that looks like it was glued to dash in place of an integrated media centre.
Beginning of the end? Are you serious? Beginning? Holden has been on the ropes for months. A slow inevitable death.
The hilux is overrated, living on old reputation. With its dust ingested issues, and lack of power and torque unless you just take the kids to sport…
Soon people will wake up.
The HI Lux is over rated, over priced and under performs when compared to other utes in its class. But that it outsells all of Holden should not come as a surprise. Holden may well go the way of other past Aussie icons if it does not change its ways and soon.
?????
GM brand managers in the U S have no idea. They developed the Chevrolet brand as large, family, reliable etc and now stuck the badge on a small Daewoo in the UK. And now, treating us as idiots, they try to sell an Opel front wheel drive as a Commodore. Honesty and dropping badge engineering would be a far better strategy.
I reckon we have woken up to this unscrupulous company. This is pay back for Holden thieving off every Australian. Good riddance I say.
Are you kidding? They can even design and build their own engines.
Simon got that right. Holden is DEAD. V8 supercars…Holden don’t make a V8..what a joke. All these vehicles are essentially the same. Brand means nothing anymore. Toyota and Mits could run – but why damage a brand..?
Hyundai / Kia and Toyota will rule the world. Well built, quality, reliable…why would u buy anything else..??
I don’t believe it’s the beginning of the end for holden at all…. I believe it’s already the end.
GMH has its self to blame, the Commodore was a brilliant vehicle. Now it has brought in the “Chinese” Holdens, no wonder they are not selling well. Not to mention the job loses that have gone out of this beautiful country.
Holden is virtually nothing more than a Trading Name now. It is hard to be loyal to a business name that allows GM to sell its world wide collection of products in the name of a memory (of a past Australian glory).
Holden is dead, there is nothing in their line up to inspire or develop an emotional response in buyers, every model is as bland as the next. They have lost their way completely.
hehe
Blame the unions for no aussie rear drive cars, holden & ford would have loved to have kept manufacturing if they were not losing money hand over fist.
The GM overlords slit Holdens throat and were too ignorant to realise it. Progressively fewer and fewer Australian made cars, the progressive killing of the Commodore, the Australian people remember and rightfully do not forgive. Moving production overseas and then calling some imported crap a Commodore is blatantly and deeply insulting. We don’t buy that. Does anyone in Holden or GM have any idea how ignorant their own ranks really are? Holden needs an Australian made car, made by Australian hands for Australian people. Alas by the time the GM overlords realise this, Holden will be dead, actually it already is dead. Only the legend of the genuine Australian made Holdens lives on.
What a discrace that Holden could take taxpayers money in the form of a government life line to prop up the Australian icon name only to not follow through with its obligations on this life line intended to keep the Australian arm of the brand going for the agreed min 5 year instead closing its plant anyway and handing the cash over to American GM, maybe now those die hard Holden fans truely understanding how low the brand they were lured into is prepared to go to, all those except the ones with their head in the sand that still think its someone else fault the icon collapsed.
I sat at the red light outside a Holden dealer the other day. They had 7 VE Commodores with rego all in sequence prised at $28.999. Thats a hard sell trying to sell a 2017 model car as a new car. As they are now just an importer of other brands, and the Holden brand no longer pull in the customers, how long do other brands want to rebadge their cars to sell them in Australia. I don’t think they survive long term.
Scott, Tony seems like a typical Holden fan and can’t think of anything clever to say. He will just rehash the same old drivel over and over again.
Robert is correct. They are actually pickups as they have a separate rear tub. Utes are vehicles whose rear tub is an integral part of the cabin.
It’s amazing that the Hulu’s sells so well.
A victory for marketing over substance.
Whether it’s the end of Holden hardly matters. Holden was only ever a producer of rather ordinary cars.
What is a pity is that Australia has lost its car manufacturing capacity.
stop trolling Tony.
maybe with aus car industry now dead the govt might take some of the ridiculous taxes off they put on to prop up the industry here
gee we might even get some real 4×4 at a decent price . check the price of a 4×4 in yank land compared to here
nev
When tariffs were removed or reduced from international vehicles, this is what created the downfall of Ford and Holden in this country.
Just a slow death. There were protections in place for Australian jobs and industry with the tarrifs imposed. For those of enough, how many foreign cars were there here in the 80s and 90s, for example? All you used to see most of the time was a Ford or Holden. Not so after the removal of tarrifs.
Competition from cheap foreign manufacturers liked the industry. Else is imagine they may still have been making them today… Sad.
The new “Holden’s” are such a far cry from the Aussie built Holden’s of yesteryear that it’s hard for that loyalty to carry over. The change to a front wheel drive 4cyl “Commodore” was just too much, too quick. I hope that all involved in the think tank that thought that Aussies would have any interest in the current range of euro/Asian inspired models presented were given the “don’t call us, we’ll call you” message. R.I.P Holden unless something changes soon you WERE an Aussie icon.
With the amount of tax payers money Holden has misused over the years everyone of us should be owed a FREE Holden vehicle, not that we want one anymore. Gross mismanagement and crap customer service is the legacy of Holden Australia.
Yep your right P Robins just goes to show how naive people are Hilux & Ranger are probably the two most unreliable out of current crop of utes but they sell on looks.
B Giles
Yeah they would have, if they were able to pay their workers $15/hr, no sick pay, no annual leave, no work life balance. It’s easy to blame the unions but let’s not forget why there is a need for the liitle man to seek safety in numbers. With a Liberal government screwing the little to prop up big business and the banks. Let’s also not forget that the government was giving Holden (GM) $150 million in handouts a year but they still wanted to cut the conditions of all of their loyal employees. No it wasn’t the unions that killed Holden it was greedy global shareholders and the unscrupulous executives of GM. People need to realise that if you want local you need to pay a little extra for it. Yes it costs more to do business in Aus but it also costs a lot more to live and raise a family here.
Pat, maybe you can come on board and dump the DUB and drive something decent.
Greg
Poor Tony, has your Lada Niva stopped. I am a 40 Year panel beater and I know cars better than you know your own butt. I have owned more real Holdens than you have had hot meals.. any of which I would have had enough faith to get in and drive across the Nullarbor as is.( I wouldn’t dare do in any new “Holdens.”)
I even have had a few good Fords and Valiants, ALL are classic Australian built cars worth big bucks now some of which are amongst the best built mass produced vehicles in the world.The reason I own a Hilux and why it is the best seller is because I have twice driven the Grt Central RD from Perth to Uluru, once the Tanami Track , once all the way from Perth to Kakadu, Darwin and back along the Gibb River RD, all the way back to Perth via the Karijini, It has never stopped or lost a piece of trim, or body part yet .
Well I’m sorry for Holden, But, The writing has been on the wall for some time now.
They have to adapt see where markets are going and make vehicles accordingly.
Myself, I miss the Falcon. Not the 6 speed Transmission. That 6 cylinder engine is just a ripper. I’d really like to see them still in production. They would even be good in a 4×4. I know everyone is jumping on the Turbo Diesel Bandwagon, but a turbo I6 falcon engine in a 4×4 the mind boggles
Commodore hasn’t been an “Aussie Brand” for ages. The bastards took our billion dollar government (tax payer) grant to continue manufacturing in Australia, but packed up shop and fled the country anyway. Australians should boycott the purchasing of any “Holden” badged product because, well basically, they are just thieves!
Jayson – Agreed.
Do we really want to follow Europe and end up woth 1400cc utes with 25 turbos and 28 gears – Surely we want utes with guts? Maybe 100% of ute drivers in Europe never leave the blacktop, but I hope there are SOME utes that actually use 4-lo…
Take a look at this – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoHbn8-ROiQ
Surprising that never made the news here…
You just can’t stop bagging out the Triton can you. Google Triton, Ranger and Hilux faults and both the Ranger and your sponsored Toyota come out on top of that list too.
Sorry to disagree about Commodore, it was a dismal boring failure unless it had a V8 and an SS badge. Put your general 20 year old V6 Commodore, if you can find one, beside a 20 year old Camry V6 or a Lexus Es300 for quality and performance and longevity and you will see why Holden is dead.
Prefer my Z71 Colorado to the sr5 hilux, had a brand new sr5 Hillcrest for 2 days when getting a canopy on my Colorado and didn’t like it at all , no room in cab, average power and ride comfort.
If Aussies can design and produce the Armies Bushmaster 4×4 and make the new Boxer LAVs for the German parent company why the hell can’t you design and produce an Aussie made D/cab 4×4 etc.
We all know what we want on, in and around our utes with all the extras everyone puts on them, so design what we want not what overseas designers tell us we need.
Make a snorkel part of the corner post, make the bulbar the front grill and front corners of the wheel arch, diff locks standard, 2″ lift, auto tyre inflation kit like the Bushmaster, etc.
Hell this country can do anything, you are like us Kiwis, if no one makes what we want we make it ourselves.
Great post. Well said.
I have had an VW Amarok for 5 years now with no dramas and I won’t be squeezing into a skinny Toyota anytime soon, as for Holden, they are garbage and have been for a while. I purchased a HSV Statesman that was back at the dealers every week until they bought it back (of course I lost out), never again will I buy that rubbish brand.
Toyota all my life but wouldnt touch the new hiluxs Best hilux made was the ln 106 who cares if it was slow there still driving around now 24 years later and still going strong even with after market turbos on them mine went for years and is still going after i sold it .
Speaks volumes when a worker being interviewed by media, driving out of the Holden factory on the last day was driving a mid 2000’s Hilux and crying about the closure. Irony was lost on him!
In my opinion, fpv made a better car based on the falcon than the mustang. It was basically a mustang motor put in a comfortable family car with better handling and a higher safety standard. Now we have the mustang and I wish we had the falcon back.
As for holden, they obviously didn’t learn anything by rebadging deawoo. There is nothing about the brand that interests me anymore. I would now rather buy either a Hyundai or Kia and evidently so do the cops.
Toyota is pretty much the same as they always have been and sometimes that is the biggest piece of mind when handing over hard earned cash.
I have owned 2 tritons, a toyota hilux and have sinced purchased a colorado to tow my heavier van, best car from economy and performance,and best towing vehicle that i have owned.each to there own but love my colorado,also live in the pilbara in wa so it gets a work out
Funny how Holden and Ford only offered one year warranty and then three year to grudgingly match other brands. That hurt the bottom line because of the number of warranty claims. A five year warranty was just an impossibility for locally manufactured cars because they were inherently faulty. It is only since they have offered fully imported vehicles that it has been possible to offer a five year warranty. After experiencing the quality and reliability of well built imported vehicles customers overwhelmingly voted with their feet. After being dudded by Holden and Ford over the years having a truly reliable car was a revelation. Those customers are unlikely to risk returning despite many of those former manufacturers range of vehicles including “the imported crap Commodore”, being very worthwhile vehicles.
Hiluxes in the modern era are and have been over rated and over priced compared to most of the other brands.
Bit like propping a Corolla on stilts and hoping for the best!
GM & Ford have taken Australian motorists for mugs, we should all boycott them, full stop.
Can’t understand why so many people want to live (survive) like the white slaves of the USA?
Its not the Unions that were or are the problem, it was/is the privatisation of our energy and the global virus of Capitalism, the Shareholder (who want to receive lots of income for doing nothing), that killed our local Car Industry amongst others.
Ultimately though, all the manufacturers have got in bed with the Chinese in one fashion or another, giving them access to much IP, etc and allowing them to now be able to produce ever improving product, in ultra modern factories for unbeatable cost.
Future vehicles will probably include the Holdung, Fongduu, VWsang, Nissundang, etc.
All those who say the Holden is dead need to realise that everything they buy now is imported, inc Ford and Mitsos – in fact; all the brands. I tow my van with a Colorado (with ease) and the extra 50n/m over the other brands sees them fade away in my mirrors, especially up those long drags. I had a Hilux but it was gutless. Over priced for what you get and they only sold shit loads because the dropped the price buy $9,000. Still not a bargain, still gutless.
Holden will probably never die because they will be propped up by the overseas companies whose cars they regurgitate with a holden badge on the front. The rise of the dual cab ute is very much on the rise because of the lack of decent alternatives in the 4×4 wagon space. Jeep’s only real model to go for is the Grand Cherokee with all it’s reliability issues and fire issues. The Discovery was alright up until they started to stretch it and add all the electronics for stability and it was always too expensive anyway. Now all the Discovery models are just very expensive SUV’s and they shot themselves in the foot by not having a replacement for the dated and expensive Defender.
The new Suzuki Jimney is a great little car with a great design but it is, well … little. It needs to be double the size with a turbo diesel to make it even worth looking at for travelling outside an Australian city and towing something. I agree with the sentiments in some of the other comments, in that overseas manufacturers need to look at what will suit a country like Australia with its wide open spaces, yes a dual cab ute is great, but I would prefer a more reliable version of the Land Rover Discovery 300Tdi, at a cheaper price point of course. My current ride is an Amarok dual cab ute, no issues with it.
Interesting that so many commemts here are about bashing GM and subsequently Holden (which they both deserve) while not really addressing the facts.
Im sure if you removed fleet sales from the figures and just kept it to private sales the results would be a whole lot different. Dont be sold on what you and I pay at the dealer, when a mining company replaces a fleet of 300 vehicles the fleet discounts are huge! Many of the larger mining sites even have dealerships on site, such is the nature of those contracts, lose on the sale make up for it on the servicing!
Yes at work I drive a new Hilux and Landcruiser, both okay but not the best thing on the market. My private 2011 Colorado is miles in front in many aspects, and when I replace that, the Isuzu MUX is the front runner to get a gurnsey.
As they say anyone can make anything they want out of a statistic, in fact 79% of statistics are made up! ?
End of the day, if you’re happy with what you have, if it does the job you want and need, and you were happy with the price, well thats the best car on the market today
Not surprising, the GM offering to Australia is lacklustre at best. Give us US styling/ options and some of their larger offerings at a decent price point (not just top of the line twin cabs please) and they may pick up there bottom line… maybe.
Its pretty simple really, Toyota build quality, reliable vehicles that also hold value, go and buy a Ford or Holden and see the fantastic warranty backup you recieve and value after 5 years, Ranger has dropped significantly and for a reason, go and buy one and see for yourself! Triton are doing well but its the price point. I have owned 5 Hiluxes going back to 15 years
Holden have only got themselves to blame. Only ever bought one new, never made that mistake again, 14 Toyota’s later still loving it. If a manufacturer does not stand by their product then they deserve everything they get. There is too much dodging of responsibility for crappy products.
Not surprised , Holden don’t supply a decent vehicle in their range, but then neither do Toyota unless you count the Land cruiser. So there you go amazing what the advertising dollar does.
You hit it right on the head mate
Yet
Good riddance Holden. The dealers consistently (some of them) will NOT fix warranty issues. I had this experience and said goodbye to Holden forever. If they disappear from Australia, well tough luck. It is a GREAT PITY that the universal wrecker John Howard shut down the auto manufacturing industry (Abbott the clown giving it the final shove), but unions were helping lots to see it go down the plug-hole too, lots. JH also wrought demolition on the Diary Industry driving hundreds of dairy farmers out of business. Now the Chinese own the big producers – thanks Johnny.
I agree perfectly. We need that manufacturing, but the Button-Plan, John Howard the dog and Abbott the clown all killed it. (Not a Lab or Lib voter or greens either, just love Australia).
A sale is a sale mate, they all count
Looks great but still prefer the Colorado. Just look at the safety especially the airbags and the torque and kw figures.
Cheers Neil