*Zoom in and click on each postcode to see the exact numbers of Holdens and Fords registered.
RED versus blue, Holden versus Ford. It's the Aussie rivalry that divides families and communities.
As the motor racing community gears up for this weekend's iconic event - the Bathurst 1000 - The Courier reveals which car brand is most popular in every Victorian postcode.
In Ballarat, the red team is a clear winner.
Data obtained through Freedom of Information found 648 Holdens compared to 534 Fords were registered in 3350 postcode between January 1, 2013 and June 30, 2014.
More Fords were registered in Buninyong, Stawell, Ararat, Haddon, Scarsdale, Rokewood, Ross Creek and Smythes Creek in the same period.
The data also found:
- Campbellfield recorded the highest number of Ford registrations (1671) compared to Holden in Melbourne (1165) and Port Melbourne (1138).
- More Fords were registered in Geelong (312) and Grovedale, Marshall and Waurn Ponds (578) than Holden with 219 and 548 registrations respectively.
- Bendigo had more Holden registrations (464) than Ford (426).
Vehicles that had their registration cancelled between the date of registration and June 30, 2014 were not included in the data.
Ballarat Holden principal dealer Scott Moysey said the Holden brand was strong in regional and rural areas.
"There is a love of V8 and utility vehicles and we have more available in that segment than Ford," Mr Moysey said.
He did not believe the data reflected a city and country divide between the two makes.
"I don't think Holdens are more associated with city drivers," he said.
"In regional areas people are doing more freeway drives, which is why the V8 models are more popular. We have (V8 model) in the Commodore product range and Ford don't."
Eclipse Ford general sales manager Neil Doolan said changing model cycles influenced the data.
"Our toughest period would be 2013 to December 2014," Mr Doolan said. "We were at the bottom of our model cycle. But what we have coming up is the new Falcon sedan, ute and territory."
Mr Moysey agreed model cycles were reflected in the data.
"Cycles do play a part in the desirability. When the stock is fresh, the sale is stronger," he said.
Both Moysey and Doolan said inflated figures near the Ford and Holden headquarters in Campbellfield and Port Melbourne reflected the number of company registered or associated vehicles.
"A lot of those would be company owned cars," Mr Doolan said.
Source: The Courier, Ballarat
