By Colin Yong

TOYOTA MAY STILL be the top-selling car brand in Singapore, but the latest official registration figures show that Nissan is slowly but surely closing the gap.

According to the Motor Traders Association of Singapore (MTA), local Toyota distributor Borneo Motors registered 6,751 cars from January to March 2005, putting it ahead of Nissan (4,767) and Hyundai (3,802).

Although Nissan surrendered its number two spot to Hyundai in 2004, a plethora of new cars and keener pricing on existing models like the March and Sunny have seen the brand roar back into contention for the number one spot in the sales chart – a position it last held in 2001.

Helping its cause is the new Latio, which has got off to a flying start. Tan Chong Motor Sales put 698 units on the road in Q1 2005, with 623 of them being registered in March alone.

Singapore’s favourite car remains the Corolla Altis, of which 3,491 units were registered in the first quarter of this year, but the aging Nissan Sunny was surprisingly close behind with 3,174 units.

Tan Chong’s marketing director Mr A C Neo told CarBuyer during the Latio’s press launch in January that the company was hoping for “1,000 sales of the Sunny and Latio combined” every month, so it looks like this target was more than met.

Nissan’s product offensive continues this weekend with the launch of the 2.0-litre Lafesta Multi Purpose Vehicle (MPV), a car that should account for around 50 to 100 sales each month. Tan Chong introduced the 2.5-litre Presage MPV in mid-March, and the second half of this year will see the debuts of the Murano Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) and 350Z Roadster.

The arrival of all these new models will provide Nissan with a stronger-than-ever range, but will it be able to overtake Toyota? It won’t be an easy task, for Toyota’s other models are continuing to sell like the proverbial hotcakes. The Vios is now a firm favourite among first-time car buyers, while the Picnic and Camry are still easily the best-selling seven-seater MPV and big car respectively.

Next month, Toyota will launch the Fortuner, a Thai-made 2.7-litre seven-seater SUV. Borneo Motors has already started taking orders for the car at $98,988 with COE, and although the company hasn’t released any sales figures, several industry observers told CarBuyer that response to the Fortuner has been “quite good”.

Hyundai may have been relegated to third place but expect the Korean carmaker to fight back strongly. The Tucson SUV is flying off the showroom floor and a facelifted version of the Getz – now Singapore’s best-selling compact hatchback – is due to arrive within the next few months. It’s also been confirmed that the brand new Accent will be launched here by the end of this year, so expect the current model to be offered at lower-than-ever prices soon.

Among the premium brands, it’s Mercedes-Benz that still leads the pack but the next few months will see its German rival BMW strengthening its position. Although deliveries of the new 3 Series have yet to begin, sources say that sales of the car are healthy and this should be reflected in the registration
figures soon.

The numbers for the 7 Series, too, were artificially low in Q1 2005 as BMW dealer Performance Motors was clearing the last remaining units of the pre-facelift car, ahead of the new model’s launch next month. The 5 Series has just been fitted with a range of new Valvetronic engines too, so 2005 looks as good a year as any for BMW to be number one among the prestige marques.

Mercedes-Benz also has several new cars on the horizon, including the A-Class, M-Class SUV and CLS-Class coupe, but its real sales heavyweight, the new S-Class, will only arrive at the very end of this year at the earliest.

Toyota’s Lexus division could also make its way into the top 10 chart soon. The brand shifted 463 cars in the first three months of this year, and with orders for the new GS300 coming in thick and fast, a three-way dogfight among the luxury carmakers could well be on the cards.

2005 January-March car sales by manufacturer
POS - MODEL - UNIT
1 - Toyota - 6,751
2 - Nissan - 4,767
3 - Hyundai - 3,802
4 - Honda - 2,728
5 - Mitsubishi - 1,509
6 - Mazda - 1,364
7 - Kia - 1,114
8 - Mercedes-Benz - 857
9 - Chevrolet - 556
10 - BMW - 509

Year-on-year market share comparison
MODEL - Q1 2005 SALES - Q1 2004 SALES
Toyota Corolla Altis - 3,491 (13.2%) - 3,391* (14.3%)
Nissan Sunny - 3,174 (12.0%) - 2,476 (10.4%)
Toyota Vios - 1,505 (5.7%) - 1,129 (4.8%)
Hyundai Matrix - 1,077 (4.1%) - 1,712 (7.2%)
Mitsubishi Lancer - 982 (3.7%) - 778 (3.3%)
* includes 649 units of the pre-facelift Corolla

Looking at raw sales figures is one thing, but seeing how they relate to the total number of cars registered in the first three months of the year tells another story.

Among the top five selling cars, it’s the Sunny that gained the most market share in Q1 2005, compared to the same period last year. Tan Chong put 698 more units on the road this year and given that the total number of car registrations by MTA members went up from 23,748 to 26,481, this represented a 1.6 percent increase in market share.

The Vios and Lancer also gained market share, but the Matrix was the only model in the top five that saw a reduction in unit sales; its market share tumbled from 7.2 to 4.1 percent. The Corolla Altis, too, lost ground compared to the second and third placed cars, although its sales performance is still pretty impressive when you consider that 13 out of every 100 new cars sold in Q1 2005 was an Altis.

2005 JANUARY-MARCH CAR SALES
Compact Cars
1. Toyota Vios - 1,505
2. Hyundai Getz - 911
3. Hyundai Accent - 511
Hatchbacks are becoming more popular in this segment, but sales of the Vios sedan continue to hold steady. Also doing well are the Kia Picanto (342) and Honda’s versatile duo, the City (367) and Jazz (330).

Small Cars
1. Toyota Corolla Altis - 3,491
2. Nissan Sunny - 3,174
3. Mitsubishi Lancer - 982
Sunny sales were buoyed by its competitive pricing and the availability of a manual model – almost a quarter of Sunny buyers chose to shift gears themselves. The Nissan Latio (698) has got off to a good start too.

Medium Cars
1. Mazda 6 - 242
2. Mercedes-Benz C-Class - 197
3. Audi A4 - 83
With the new Hyundai Sonata having moved up a class, the most popular medium car is now the Mazda 6. The C-Class is still going strong, but expect the new BMW 3 Series to start making an impact soon.

Big Cars
1. Toyota Camry - 957
2. Nissan Cefiro - 541
3. Mercedes-Benz E-Class - 466
Sales of the Thai-made Camry have picked up after a slow start and it’s now the undisputed champ in this class. Among the premium brands, the E-Class still leads the 5 Series (333), albeit by a narrow margin.

Luxury Cars
1. Mercedes-Benz S-Class - 115
2. BMW 7 Series - 60
3. Jaguar XJ - 43
The introduction of a long-wheelbase model has kick-started XJ sales, pushing the car ahead of the Lexus LS430 (26). The facelifted 7 Series – due to arrive soon – should pose a strong challenge to the S-Class.

Small Multi-Purpose Vehicles
1. Hyundai Matrix - 1,077
2. Mitsubishi Colt Plus - 136
3. Renault Scenic - 25
While the Matrix isn’t selling as strongly as it did a year ago, it still did well to cross the 1,000 unit mark. The Colt Plus outsold the standard Colt (62), with the turbocharged Ralliart version finding 20 buyers.

Large Multi-Purpose Vehicles
1. Toyota Picnic - 689
2. Honda Odyssey - 544
3. Hyundai Trajet - 474
A supply shortage saw the Picnic get off to a slow start in 2005, but it has since overtaken the Odyssey to reclaim its number one position. It will be interesting to see how Nissan’s new Presage and Lafesta perform.

Sports Utility Vehicles
1. Hyundai Tucson - 493
2. Honda CR-V - 175
3. Lexus RX300 - 172
No contest here – the Tucson is easily the most popular SUV, although it’s also stealing sales from Hyundai’s own Santa Fe (115). Even the mechanically-identical Kia Sportage (113) is some way back.

Coupes, convertibles and roadsters
1. Honda Integra - 132
2. Hyundai Tuscani - 115
3. BMW 6 Series - 45
“Expect the new Honda Integra to steal some sales from the Tuscani in 2005”, CarBuyer said in January. It has done more than that, climbing to the top of this segment. The Peugeot 307 CC (35) is selling well too.

Station wagons
1. Volvo V50 - 20
2. Chevrolet Optra Station Wagon - 16
3. Ford Focus Station Wagon - 11
As the figures show, there is still a steady stream of buyers who appreciate the versatility of station wagons. Among the bigger models, the Saab 9-5 Estate (5) found more buyers than Volvo’s V70 (4).