Marketplace

That sounds like a broken record

HIGHLIGHTS Australia nudged into record sales numbers for the fourth month running, with July closing a skinny 1.6 percent ahead of the same month last year. The hot spot is the medium-suv class, where the annual sales tally is now 16.6 percent ahead of the same time last year. Subaru was the brand to watch, jumping three places on the charts thanks to the new-gen XV. Volkswagen’s run-out of the Golf VII was popular with buyers. Oh, and Honda snared its second customer for the $420,000 NSX hybrid sports car.

LOWLIGHTS Floundering brands that dredged this month’s despair pit included Nissan (down 22 percent), Jeep (510, down 33 percent), and French brands Citroen (23, down 70 percent) and Peugeot (106, down 61 percent). Admittedly, the PSA pair are in a ‘transitional phase’ as local distribution switches from Sime Darby to Inchcape,, and Renault’s solid 763 sales in July proves there’s still plenty of goodwill for French product. But PSA needs to try much harder, starting with more competitive pricing.