New motor vehicle sales have started the year on a roll, with just-released official figures showing January was another record month for the industry.
In fact, last month’s 82,270 new car and commercial vehicle sales were up 6.9 percent on the previous January record, achieved last year.
But in percentage terms at least, the star performers weren’t so much new passenger car sales but SUVS and both light and heavy trucks.
New car star last month and top-selling motor vehicle overall was again Toyota’s Corolla, selling a January record 3843, or 10.3 percent better than it did during its previous best January, last year.
Toyota also scooped third-best-selling vehicle status with its HiLux (3020 sold) and fifth-best with Yaris (2433).
No prizes, then, for guessing that Toyota (17,852 sales) again topped the Top 10 for the month, followed by Holden (10,253), Ford (7676), Mazda (7103), Honda (5969), Mitsubishi (5084), Nissan (4867), Subaru (4059), Hyundai (3172) and Volkswagen (2374).
Second biggest-selling passenger car was Holden’s Commodore (3210), down 264 sales (7.6 percent) on January last year. Perhaps not surprisingly, Toyota Aurion sales were up a fairly robust 12.5 percent over its January, 2007 result.
Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries chief executive Andrew McKellar said strong January sales of light and small cars and for SUVs were tempered by diminishing demand for large vehicles, mostly from local manufacturers.
"Strong competitive activity and consumer confidence has resulted in more than 80,000 January sales for the first time," Mr McKellar said.
While demand increased 20 percent for SUVs, 10.5 percent for medium passenger cars and 8.4 percent for light cars, sales of large passenger cars fell 20.9 percent -- down 1890 sales compared with January, last year.
Mr McKellar said seasonal factors and model cycle influences contributed to the drop in large car sales.
Demand for imported cars increased 10.4 percent while sales of locally manufactured models diminished 11.5 percent, or 1407 vehicles.
So, from the top – or the bottom, if you want to look at it that way – here’s the top three cars and SUVs in each of the market segments:
Light cars (under $25,000)
1. Toyota Yaris – 2433
2. Mazda 2 – 1442
3. Honda Jazz – 1395
Light cars (over $25,000)
1. Peugeot 207 – 182
2. Citroen C3 – 48
3. Fiat Punto – 26
Small cars (under $40,000)
1. Toyota Corolla – 3843
2. Mazda 3 – 2915
3. Ford Focus – 1823
Small cars (over $40,000)
1. Audi A3 – 230
2. BMW 1 Series – 165
3. Mini Cooper – 155
Medium cars (under $60,000)
1. Toyota Camry – 1385
2. Mazda 6 – 1070
3. Subaru Liberty – 707
Medium cars (over $60,000)
1. Mercedes-Benz C-Class – 760
2. BMW 3 Series – 441
3. Audi A4 338
Large cars (under $70,000)
1. Holden Commodore – 3210
2. Toyota Aurion – 1266
3. Ford Falcon – 1252
Large cars (over $70,000)
1. BMW 5-Series – 124
2. Mercedes-Benz E-Class – 79
3. Audi A6 – 51
Upper large cars (under $100,000)
1. Holden Caprice – 159
2. Holden Statesman – 122
3. Chrysler 300C – 97
Upper large cars (over $100,000)
1. Mercedes-Benz S-Class – 23
2. Lexus LS – 20
3. BMW 7 Series – 16
People movers (under $55,000)
1. Honda Odyssey – 272
2. Kia Carnival – 243
3. Toyota Tarago – 207
People movers (over $55,000)
1. Chrysler Voyager – 32
2. Volkswagen Multivan – 23
3. Mercedes-Benz Viano – 8
Sports cars (under $80,000)
1. Volkswagen Eos – 191
2. Holden Astra Convertible – 74
3. Mazda MX5 – 61
Sports cars (over $80,000)
1. BMW 3 Series Coupe/Convertible – 215
2. Audi TT – 171
3. Mercedes-Benz CLK-Class – 101
Sports cars (over $200,000)
1. Porsche 911 – 61
2. Maserati – 24
3. Ferrari – 20
SUV Compact
1. Honda CR-V – 1575
2. Subaru Forester – 1395
3. Toyota RAV4 – 1135
SUV Medium
1. Toyota Prado – 1199
2. Ford Territory – 1099
3. Holden Captiva – 1038
SUV Large
1. Toyota LandCruiser Wagon – 899
2. Nissan Patrol Wagon – 296
3. Jeep Commander – 30
SUV Luxury
1. BMW X5 – 263
2. Lexus RX – 183
3. Land Rover Discovery – 172