In the motoring section of the Daily Telegraph today, the VFACTS sales figures for October reveal some interesting things.

The VW Golf was the third-most popular vehicle in Australia last month:

1. Toyota Corolla 3,593 sales
2. Toyota HiLux 3,480
3. VW Golf 3,337
4. Mazda3 3,185
5. Holden Commodore 3,018
6. Holden Cruze 2,805
7. Hyundai i30
8. Toyota Camry 2,725
9. Ford Falcon 1,591
10. Mitsubishi Lancer 1,549

Wow. This is the first time that a Volkswagen has ever outsold both the biggest selling Ford and Holden models in Australia. Previously, in 1960, the Beetle was Australia's second-biggest selling car after the Holden so this is the first time a VW has ever outsold Holden. Falcon sales are down 38% on last year and its days must be numbered.

3,337 Golfs is the biggest selling month for any Volkswagen model in Australian history. The Beetle's biggest selling year - 1960 - was 24,388 in 12 months, an average of 2,032 a month. Even VW's (previously) biggest selling year of all time, 1964, was 31,419 (Type 1, 2 and 3), or 2,618 a month average. Last year's record sales were 38,016 - 3,168 a month.

So last month the Golf's sales alone were greater than VW's previous record COMBINED sales average.

Overall, VW sold 5,150 vehicles in October (the Tiguan, Caddy, Passat and Polo are the next most popular VW models after the Golf). That is VW's biggest selling month in Australan history. VW is now 7th, outselling Mitsubishi, Subaru and Honda.

That's an amazing feat despite the 'quality' of VW dealerships.

I am glad the 2 shitest are on the bottom of the list

I wouldn't with the amount of serious troubles with them. but yeah crumpledores "taking a dive since 1998"

If you take out reps and cops (comode door) and mining companies ( hilux ) the golf and mazda 3 are what aussies are really buying. Volkswagen will be world no.1 by next year but it will need a shitload more (good) dealers before they can clean up in australia. People WILL pay more if the cars are better, but they want to be looked after post sale.

Quite right, Australians will generally pay a little more for a quality product (up to a point). For example, the original Beetle was NOT a cheap and cheerful car in Australia (like it was on the US market), it was actually one of the most expensive for its size and power output. In 1954, its debut year, the 1200 Beetle's retail price was £972. Compare that with a Standard Ten (£924); the Renault 750 Deluxe (£861); Morris Minor 2-door (£848) or 4-door (£897); a Ford Anglia (£922); a Fiat 600 (£838); or an Austin A30 (£846). In fact the 1954 Beetle was not much less than a six-cylinder FJ Holden Standard (£1142). But people watched it finish 1-2 in the 1955 Redex Trial, realised it was a great bit of machinery and were happy paying a bit more for it.

As local content increased the price did come down to around £955 by 1962, when the 'austerity' Standard model was introduced at £849 - and soon discounted to just £799. Yet the Deluxe always outsold the Standard - Australians were prepared to pay more for a better car.

Look also at what happened when Australians were offered the new generation VWs. In 1974 you could buy a 1300 Beetle for $2,569 or a 1600 Superbug L for $2,798. The Passat debuted at $3,348 for the 1300 or $3,698 for the 1500. The 1500TS was $3,895. The new Passats were rather more expensive than the old air-coolers - but which ones did Australians buy? 1974 1300 Beetle sales - 957. 1600 Superbug sales - 2,025. Passat sales - 3,411, more than both Beetles combined.

Same in 1976. The 1600 Beetle (torsion bar body with 1600 engine and double-joint rear) was $4,140. The new 1600 Golf LS was $4,360 for the 3-door or $4,490 for the 5-door. The now 1600 Passat was $4,990. The 1976 sales figures tell the tale. 1600 Beetle - 1,159. Golf - 4,429. Passat - 3,945. Again, Aussies were happy playing more for the the most modern, high quaility VWs (although in fact, Nissan-built LS Golfs had a lot of local quality issues).

But only up to a point. In 1977 when local VW assembly ended, the new fully imported Golf and Passat GLS models were suddenly 20% more expensive. Golf sales dropped to just 2,831. In 1978 the Golf GLD Diesel was introduced and set new standards in fuel economy, but it was now $7,759. Golf sales were steady at 2,364 but by 1980 you could buy a Gemini diesel for $5,900 . The Golf had blown out to over $10,600 and sales had dropped to 551. It was discontinued the following year.

Agreed, the Australian VW dealer network is still the stumbling block. When are we going to get proper Volkswagen-ONLY dealers rather than the existing make dealers that take on VW as well just to make a bit of extra money? When are VW dealers going to start loving their product, like they used to do in the '60s, rather than seeing them as just fridges on wheels to sell? Whatever happened to VW's aftesales and service being the finest in the world?

Whatever indeed, Phil?

My [BAD] experience with the Moss Vale dealer caused me to vow NEVER to deal with them again!

Yes Greg, while it's great that the southern highlands has a VW dealer again, they are a typical example of a 'muilt-make' dealer chain - selling Holden, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Suzuki and Volkswagen. VW seems to be selling gangbusters nowadays - let's get in on it. No historical connection, no love or enthusiasm for the VW marque.

What a pity the old dealer at Mittagong - Bill Worner Motors - didn't survive until the current VW revival. They were VW-only from the late 1950s up to the late 1980s before they switched to Mazda.

Great to talk to you at the pictures at Katoomba on Saturday too!