Australia February 2014: Mazda3 remains most popular

Mazda3

* See the Top 20 best-selling models and Top 10 brands by clicking on the title! *

New car sales in Australia are down 4% year-on-year both in February at 86,818 registrations and year-to-date at 169,103 units. The Mazda3 takes a serious option at the annual leadership by ranking #1 for the 2nd month in a row with sales up 17% year-on-year to 3,969 and 4.6% share thanks to the arrival of the new generation in dealerships (and in the streets   – I saw my first new gen Mazda3 in Sydney in February). Also helped by the launch of the new gen sedan, the Toyota Corolla improves its share to 3.8% at 3,332 units but is passed by the Toyota Hilux for 2nd place (3,348). As a reminder, the Mazda3 dominated Australian sales in 2011 and 2012 before being passed by the Toyota Corolla last year.

The Toyota RAV4 breaks into the Top 10 for only the 2nd time ever.

A little more than two months after Holden’s announcement they will end local manufacturing by 2016, the Commodore is back up one spot on January to #4 with 2,777 sales and 3.2% share, its highest since last November and a 60% volume increase over February 2013. In fact, most models in the February Top 10 lodge very impressive year-on-year gains: the Toyota Camry is up 30% to #7, the VW Golf up 54% to #8, the Mazda CX-5 up 33% to #9 and the Toyota RAV4 up 38% to register the nameplate’s 2nd ever Top 10 ranking at #10 with last August (#9).

Previous post: Toyota pulls out: end of Australian car manufacturing now a reality

Previous month: Australia January 2014: Mazda3 up to highest market share ever

One year ago: Australia February 2013: Brands podium 100% Japanese for the first time in history

Full February 2014 Top 20 models Ranking Table below.