08 February 2011
Despite another year of financial uncertainty, vehicle sales hit above the one million mark in 2010 for only the third year ever.
Even though grocery, electricity and petrol prices skyrocketed, Australians were still on the hunt for new sets of wheels.
Data released by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) showed 1,035,574 passenger cars, SUVs and commercial cars were sold in 2010, a 10 per cent rise from 2009.
But while numbers were breaking the records, it was a race to the chequered flag for Aussie favourites Toyota and Holden.
Toyota took out the top spot for highest-selling brand and Holden stuck with tradition to be the top-selling model. For the 15th year in a row, the Holden Commodore was the top seller with 45,956 sold across the country, followed closely by Toyota’s Corolla and Hilux.
Brand-wise, for the 8th year running, Toyota was the top-seller selling 214,718 vehicles last year with its closest competitor Holden selling a total of 132,923. Further down the list were a few Aussie favourites including Ford, Mazda and Hyundai.
FCAI Chief Executive Andrew McKellar confirmed it was the second-highest year total in history.
“This is an exceptional outcome. The result is very encouraging, given all the challenges of the year,’’ he says.
“Consumers clearly recognised the safety and environmental benefits of upgrading to a new vehicle and in such a competitive market they were rewarded with good vehicles at good prices.’’
Top Cars by Model
1. Holden Commodore
2. Toyota Corolla
3. Toyota Hilux
4. Mazda 3
5. Hyundai i30
6. Ford Falcon
7. Holden Cruze
8. Toyota Camry
9. Mitsubishi Lancer
10. Hyundai Getz.
Top-10 Cars by Brand
1. Toyota
2. Holden
3. Ford
4. Mazda
5. Hyundai
6. Nissan
7. Mitsubishi
8. Honda
9. Subaru
10. Volkswagen.