By Colin Yong and Nick Syn

WHEN IT COMES to the business of manufacturing and selling cars, no one comes even remotely close to Toyota. It is the world’s most efficient car company by a practically insurmountable margin so it’s no real wonder that the company once again dominated the Singapore sales charts last year.

Local Toyota distributor Borneo Motors registered 24,767 units in 2005, an increase of 5.2 percent over 2004. Nissan reclaimed the second place it lost to Hyundai in 2004 with a tally of 16,996 units, a hefty 35 percent spike, while the Korean manufacturer slipped to third with 12,862 units, a 6.8 percent dip compared to last year.

While the overall sales volume shows an increase (Motor Trader’s Association members shifted 101,678 cars in 2005 as compared to 90,287 units in 2004), it’s important to remember that such an increase doesn’t
specifically indicate a surge in demand, as new car registrations are essentially predetermined by the controlled release of COEs.

In fact, if you look at the market share breakdown for the MTA’s top 10 performers, the picture does get slightly less rosy. Although it sold more cars, Toyota’s market share actually slipped by 1.71 percent, with its luxury arm, Lexus, dropping out of the top 10 list entirely. Among the front runners, only Nissan, Kia, BMW and Chevrolet recorded market share increases.

CLASS WARFARE
In the compact car segment, the Toyota Vios, once again in first place, improved on its 2004 performance by nearly 1,000 units. Boosted by a mid-life facelift, the Hyundai Getz held on to second position with a 819 unit increase, while the now-discontinued Hyundai Accent stayed in third with sales shrinking only marginally by 11 units.

It’s a similar story with the small car segment, with the top three models, the Toyota Corolla, Nissan Sunny and Mitsubishi Lancer all registering marked increases. The attractiveness of prices in these segments has apparently had no small effect on luring first-time buyers into the fold – good news if you’re a consumer thinking of taking the plunge but bad news for dealers’ margins.

In the medium car segment, BMW’s new 3 Series zoomed to the top spot with 1,090 cars sold. In second place was the Mazda 6 with a 671 unit tally. 2004’s top seller in this class was the Hyundai Sonata but the much bigger new model has been re-categorised as a large car, leaving room for Mercedes-Benz’s C-Class to edge into third place. Reflecting current car buying trends, the big car segment took a major battering in 2005. Although the top three models for 2004 – the Toyota Camry, Nissan Cefiro and Mercedes-Benz E-Class – all kept their respective places, each model recorded significant dips in sales. For instance, Toyota racked up 3,718 Camry sales in 2004, but only managed 2,961 units for 2005, while Cefiro and E-Class sales dipped by 714 and 458 units respectively. The big car segment has traditionally been the domain of the replacement car buyer, and this lacklustre performance simply confirms what most dealers have been complaining about: the
drying up of the replacement car market.

With regards to the luxury car segment, BMW’s 7 Series took the top spot with an impressive 602 units sold. Mercedes managed to shift 403 units of the outgoing S-Class, compared to 539 units in 2004.

The medium and luxury car segment tallies are also particularly notable because of the apparent shift in fortunes with regards to traditional
powerhouses BMW and Mercedes-Benz. For the first time ever, BMW sold more cars in Singapore than its arch-rival and the brand even came close to topping the big car segment, traditionally dominated by the E-Class. Competitive pricing and a range of powerful new engines for the 5 Series had the desired effect, sending sales shooting up 37 percent over 2004.

The top-selling Sports Utility Vehicle, the Hyundai Tucson, found a whopping 2,096 buyers, although sales of the aging Santa Fe dropped considerably from 754 units to just 327. The Lexus RX300 moved up a place to second spot despite racking up fewer unit sales and Kia’s Sportage closed in third with a respectable 480 units.

On the small MPV front, the Hyundai Matrix registered 3,133 units, clinging on to first place despite a 1,796 drop in unit sales compared with 2004. Mitsubishi’s new Colt Plus managed to snare 540 units to garner second place while the Opel Meriva dropped to third on 97 units.

In the coupes, convertibles and roadsters segment, Hyundai’s Tuscani finally gave up first place to the newly introduced Honda Integra, the latter registering 489 units. The Tuscani slipped back to second with 292 units
sold, down from 2004’s tally of 345. In third place was BMW’s 6 Series Coupe with a hefty 150 units, up from 2004’s total of 83. Deserving of mention is the strong sales performance of the Mercedes-Benz CLS, of which 124 were sold despite the model only having been launched in May.

ESTATE NUMBERS ON THE UP AND UP
One big surprise for 2005 was the marked jump in estate sales. The Chevrolet Optra Estate topped the list, with 93 units. Moving to second place with 82 units was Volvo’s V50, nearly doubling its unit sales in the process. In third was the Renault Megane Sport Tourer with 61 units sold. Station wagons have never traditionally been very big sellers, but a plethora of new models, and the apparent shift in consumers’ perception of estates from utilitarian appliances to more lifestyle-oriented vehicles, have seen numbers jump significantly.

Summing up, the most significant developments in 2005 were that small cars were king, estates got a boost and BMW kicked sand in Mercedes’
face. What might this year have in store?

THE OUTLOOK FOR 2006
With the emphasis now more than ever overtly on price, the small and compact car segments should continue to do extremely well, with plenty of support from first time owners or those looking to downgrade.

The performance of the big car segment doesn’t look to significantly improve until much late this year, which is when the new Camry might make its local appearance. A facelifted Honda Accord is also on the cards, while the new 2.0-litre Kia Magentis – due here in end-March – might make
a move up the charts if its price is right.

With regards to the rivalry between Mercedes-Benz and BMW, 2006 will in all likelihood see the shoe on the other foot with regards to the youthfulness of product. BMW clearly had the upper hand in terms of new or newly-facelifted models in 2005 but Mercedes is fielding at least four all-new models this year, including
the potentially big-selling S-Class.

On BMW’s end, there will be the new 3 Series Coupe, as well as the facelifted Z4 and X3 to look forward to. The new seven-seater X5 will also be introduced this year, but a local launch date has not yet been fixed. SUVs look like they will continue to be steady sellers, especially as new versions of models like the Toyota RAV4 and Mitsubishi Outlander have just been introduced. In the medium car segment, the impending launch of Lexus’ all-new IS sedan will probably mean a major challenge to the BMW 3 Series.

Nobody would bet on Toyota losing top spot, not when the company is poised to take first place globally in terms of manufacturing volume in 2006. Second place however, might not be a sure thing. Nissan, with no significant product launches scheduled for 2006 beyond the considerably more expensive successor to the big-selling Sunny, may not have the first runner-up position in the bag. Hyundai will field an all-new Santa Fe as well as a 2.0-litre version of the Sonata, which might be enough to shake things up.