Imported cars continue to dominate the monthly sales race as Mazda beats the locally manufactured Holden for the first time.
Australian’s continuing love affair with imported cars has seen Holden finish third on the sales charts according to new figures released yesterday.
SMH reports Holden was down 18.7 per cent in September and recorded huge drops for its leading locally-made models including Commodore – down 31.8 per cent and Cruze – down 37.4 per cent.
The figures come after heavy discounting from many of the major brands with several companies, including Holden, offering zero point finance.
Holden’s director of sales, Philip Brook, said the market is tough, but pointed to unique ways in which Holden planned to beat the sales slump.
"There's no doubt the market was extremely competitive in September," he said. "The high Australian dollar means we are continuing to see some very aggressive pricing across all areas of the market.
"At Holden, we've announced an aggressive and unique campaign this month with our employee pricing program, which represents fantastic value for our customers. We'll continue to assess the market in the remaining months of 2012, and respond where appropriate."
In what comes as another blow for the local manufacturer, just last week Holden announced it would cease production in the days running up to Christmas at its Elizabeth plant in South Australia, with slow sales blamed.
“Market response days” will see employees stay at home on 60 per cent of their regular wages, with the option of using long service or holiday leave to top up their pay.
“We do understand that these kind of decisions, we don't take them lightly and we do understand that there is an effect on our employees, so we worked really closely with the unions to identify the best days and everyone's been informed,” Holden corporate affairs manager Sean Poppitt told the ABC at the time.
“It's no secret that it's been tough,” Poppitt said