2010 was an all-time record sales year for Volkswagen in Australia. Last year’s VW sales of 38,016 vehicles finally beat the 1964 record of 31,419, set way back when VW’s Clayton factory was locally manufacturing 1200 Beetles, 1500 Kombis and 1500 Type 3s. This record had stood unbeaten for 46 years.

VW sales had declined after 1964 as more modern competition appeared. Local manufacturing ended in 1968, CKD assembly ended in 1977, and all VW car sales ended in 1981. From 1982 to 1989 the Transporter was the only new VW available, with the all-time low point in 1987 – no new imports and just 48 old-stock Transporters sold all year. VW was restarted under Ateco in 1989, then TKM, then Inchcape, building sales from 500 to 8,500 in ten years. VW Group Australia took over in 2001, and after ten more years of steady growth VW has set a new all-time record.

VW’s most popular model last year was the Golf, with 15,425 sales, followed by the Tiguan SUV with 6,590. Then the Passat (3,494); the Polo (3,195); the Jetta (2,391); Caddy (2,243); T5 Transporter (1,804); Eos (985); Crafter (840); Multivan (477); New Beetle (462); Touareg (374) and Caravelle (110). With these numbers, VW set all-time Australian sales records for the Polo, Golf, Caddy, Multivan, Tiguan and Crafter.

Two significant Australian sales milestones were passed. In November 2010 the 500,000th (half millionth) Volkswagen passenger vehicle was sold, since the first one in 1954. In December 2010 the 150,000th Volkswagen commercial vehicle since 1954 was sold. By 31 December 2010 the totals reached 503,226 passenger cars, 150,050 commercial vehicles and 17,269 SUVs, making a grand total of 670,545 Volkswagen vehicles sold in Australia since 1954 (not including Audi, NSU, Skoda and SEAT).

The Golf’s cumulative reached 121,697 (1976-2010). This is still second to the VW 1200 Beetle with 183,626 (1954-66), but at present sales rates the Golf will overtake the 1200 Beetle by January 2015.

Passat sales have now reached 35,545 (1974-2010), making it the fourth most popular VW car after the 1200 Beetle, Golf and VW 1600 (41,786, Types 1 and 3 together 1966-76). The Passat overtook the VW 1500 (31,129, 1963-73) in 2009.

The most popular Passenger Car makers were Toyota (104,403); Holden (92,215); Mazda (61,930); Hyundai (60,441); Ford (54,698); Honda (33,131); Volkswagen (26,799); Mitsubishi (24,539); Suzuki (19,917) and Subaru (18,492). VW’s 26,799 passenger cars was also an all-time record, beating the 25,764 sold in 1964. VW outsold Mitsubishi for the first time ever, and remained Australia’s most popular European brand for the sixth year in a row.

The Japanese makers today make their big sales in 4WDs and SUVs. Volkswagen finished tenth in SUVs with 6,590, behind Hyundai (13,607) and Honda (7,244). Toyota topped the SUVs with 53,509.

In Overall sales, Volkswagen was tenth, for the fifth year in a row. The overall totals were Toyota (214,718); Holden (132,923); Ford (95,284); Mazda (84,777); Hyundai (80,038); Nissan (62,676); Mitsubishi (62,496); Honda (40,375); Subaru (40,025) and Volkswagen (38,016).

VFACTS also records the number of cars of each make registered on Australian roads in 2005, and in 2010. Reflecting VW’s resurgence in Australia, the number of registered VWs on our roads grew from 96,064 in 2005 to 185,349 in 2010, an increase of 92.9%. This was by far the largest increase of all the top 10 brands. Note also that 185,349 VWs survive on our roads of the 670,545 sold here since 1954.

VW’s two Group companies also had all-time record years in 2010. Audi sold 12,900 vehicles, and Skoda sold 1,652.

And for the first 9 months of 2011, to the end of September, VW has already sold 32,153 vehicles - more than 1964's entire total. If current rates continue, VW is on track to post over 42,000 sales by December, and will pass both Honda and Subaru. If so, it will be the first time VW has outsold these two since 1976 (Subaru) and 1973 (Honda).

cool.. I did have a hand in the record shame that service departments at most dealerships are not record beaters

Lesson learnt Paul, dont go to a dealership for a service unless it's free especially when you can get your car serviced now without voiding your warrantee. VW are renowned for being overpriced with servicing and "genuine" parts.

not just VW yeah
they are really ALL bad
I use aftermkt servicing as the cost is sensible
and I don't really get told lies by the guy who fixes the thing
anyways no more hijacking
hooray for a VW sales record

Perhaps another thread on what VWGA can do about their dealers and their standard of service would be a good idea?

I am not sure if there are any 'pure' VW dealers, who sell and service only Volkswagen. Aren't they just 'European Classic' dealers of other makes who have recently taken on VW to make more money? Why can't VWGA cast off these opportunists and appoint proper European-style VW-only dealers? With staff who love their VWs as much as we do? And get involved in the local VW clubs and their events and shows?

In Sydney Barloworld is VW-only, but the rest are not (Barloworld is a South African country, so they would have a better VW tradition than the Holden and Mitsubishi dealers that 'suddenly' sell VWs as well). They gave me good service once on my Mk3 Golf but yes they are expensive. But we can't seem to interest them, or any other Sydney dealer, in sponsoring the VW Nationals or setting up a display stand. That said, Lennox Motors in Canberra did sponsor the recent German Autofest and they displayed some new cars - good sign.

Unfortunately to my knowledge there are no existing VW dealers anywhere in Australia that were around in the air-cooled era, when VW Service was the standard-setter. They have all gone, or moved to other makes. The oldest is Chatswood Classic in Sydney that took on VW in 1989. Many large country centres still don't have a VW dealer and haven't since they closed in the late '70s and early '80s.

Interestingly in 1964 VW sold 31,000 cars with around 320 Australian VW dealers. Today VW sells 38,000 cars with around 120 dealers. Is each dealer selling more and servicing less?

I'll add my 2c in as Im from the VW servicing industry and have worked at a few dealerships before opening my own workshop .

The biggest issue with improving VW servicing starts with the mechanics . Unfortunately mechanics dont get paid anywhere near as much as what they are worth . Im pretty sure that a min award wage for a mechanic still hasnt reached $20 an hour . So finding mechanics , let alone good ones is hard enough as it is . I'll also mention that the boom in mining is basically taking away a few of these mechanics as the money is a lot better than working at dealerships/workshops . I also see that the general feeling towards mechanics is they rip you off , judging by a post made by someone who was being charged $400 or so in labour to R&R an engine to do a clutch job on a beetle . Most people dont have a clue how hard it is working as a mechanic , lifting engines/gearboxes , having fuel sprayed on you , dipping your hands in kersosene wash etc , so being offered a $70k a year job in the mines driving a truck is quite tempting .

Next would be the dealership staff . Its a high turnover rate and it has a large business model so profits are more important that people . Most industries have become this way so its not surprising . They also fail to put money back into the industry that puts them where they are . VWA is no exception . Instead of putting money into motorsport or shows etc they spend most on Golf Tournaments or the AFL or (wtf) a gay film festival . I guess its their money and they see fit on how to use it much to the dissapointment of enthuisiasts .

Things have become an us and them and its only getting worse , until dealers start displaying cars at shows and take an active interest in the scene they will only become a selling place for cars , much like a corner store being replaced by a vending machine .