Australia 2004: Commodore undisputed leader

* See the Top 50 best-selling models by clicking on the title! *

The Australian car market is up a fantastic 9% this year to break its record for the 2nd consecutive time at 955,229 registrations. The Holden Commodore is the best selling car in the country again, at 79,170 sales and 8.3% (-9%). It peaked at 9.6% in October and was #1 every single month of the year (2004 is the last year when the Commodore manages this feat), establishing a safe margin over the Ford Falcon, #2 at 65,182 sales and 6.8% (-11%), peaking at 7.7% in March.

Toyota Camry

3 Toyotas follow: the Camry is #3 at 40,356 sales and 4.2% (+5%) thanks to an exceptional month of December at 5.7%, the Corolla is #4 at 39,053 units and 4.1% (+8%), and the Hilux breaks into the Australian year-end Top 5 for the very first time, up one spot and 8% to a record 28,077 sales.

Holden Ute

Below the Holden Astra (-8%), the Holden Rodeo also reaches its highest ever year-end ranking at #7, up 25% while the Holden Commodore ute is up 35% to a best-ever #8 and takes the advantage over its archenemy the Ford Falcon Ute, up 1% to a still very respectable #10.

Mazda3

All-new for 2004, the Mazda3 manages to rank within the year-end Top 10 with already 2.3% of the market as early as for its first year! It broke into the monthly Top 10 as early as February (#7) and performed extremely well throughout the year. Other very successful newcomer for 2004, the Ford Territory launched in May (at #21), broke into the Top 10 in August (#9) and reached a best-ever 6th place in December (2,184 sales and 2.8%), finishing the year at #18 and already #2 SUV below the Toyota Land Cruiser at #16. A very promising start…

Previous year: Australia 2003: Ford Falcon teases Holden Commodore

Next year: Australia 2005: Commodore and Falcon still dominate but slow down, Corolla #1 in September

Full Year 2004 Top 50 and every monthly Top 50: click on ‘Read more’ below.