Record March Results for Holden Cruze and Captiva 5

SYDNEY – Apr 4, 2012: Holden is showing solid growth across a number of carlines with record March performances for Cruze and Captiva 5, according to official VFACTS figures released today by the FCAI.

The homegrown Cruze celebrated its best ever March result, with 2,880 sales for the month. Cruze was also the third highest-selling model in the small car segment with a 13.4 per cent share and fifth in the market overall.

Commodore continues to be the stand-out in the large-car segment with 3,187 units for the month, capturing an impressive 62.5 per cent share of the segment. Commodore was the third highest-selling model in the marketplace in March and year-to-date.

Holden’s SUV sales continue to soar with the Series II Captiva 5 achieving the highest March result on record with 501 units, a 339.5 increase over March 2011. Captiva 7 was also up on last year by 55.2 per cent with 863 sales for the month.

Holden Director of Sales, Philip Brook, said it had been a tough March for Holden with the popular Colorado nearly sold out and the next-generation Colorado still a few months away.

However Mr Brook said the good news was the result reflected the company’s renewed focus on a broader product portfolio with strong offerings across the SUV, small, large and light car segments.

“Our Captiva range continues to be in strong demand in the growing SUV segment. We’ve seen significant growth for both our SUV entrants month-on-month, which shows its performance, improved fuel economy and keen pricing has really hit the sweet spot,” he said.

“We’ve just celebrated our first anniversary for the locally-built Cruze, which continues to be a favourite with our customers. One year on, the sporty 1.4 iTi SRi and SRi-V models are still winning new fans.

“We have a strong player in the competitive light-car segment with the new-generation Barina hatch and sedan. Customers are telling us that both sedan and hatch look good, are the right price and have all the right features.

“And we’re in run-out of the current Colorado so we’re focusing all our efforts on showcasing the next-generation Colorado at dealerships around the country and so far the response has been overwhelmingly positive.”

Holden’s total March volume was 10,196 units, giving the company a market share of 10.4 per cent. Year to date, Holden has sold a total of 28,945 units.