Top-selling passenger cars for February 2018

Holden’s transition period from builder to all-importer suffered a significant, albeit expected, hiccup in February that saw it fall from fourth to eighth spot with just 4689 vehicles registered.

VFACTS figures for last month show Mitsubishi, Ford, Nissan and Honda all overtook the Aussie brand, which was around 30 sales from dropping out of the top 10 altogether, with Volkswagen and Kia hot on its heels.

As predicted Holden Commodore registrations were at an all-time low with just 733 sales, putting it well outside the top 20, caused by Aussie-built VF stocks running dry in January, and the new German-built ZB Commodore not going on sale until the well into the latter half of the month.

A Holden spokesman told WhichCar the company planned for a slower start to the year in terms of sales, adding that “our current market share is not where we want it to be”.

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He said Holden is confident of a quick turnaround in the next couple months as the ZB Commodore settles into dealerships alongside the strong-selling Astra range, and a new diesel-powered Equinox which will start arriving from Mexico.

As usual Toyota has every reason to be optimistic after moving 18,281 vehicles in February, with Corolla (3270) again topping the passenger car list, and RAV4 (1841), Kluger (1420), Camry (1381) and Prado (1323) all making it into the top 20.

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Camry sales have remained strong since production shifted from Australia to Japan, and while it’s down a little compared to February 2017, year to date sales (2135) are up over this time last year.

Toyota’s overall figure included HiLux light commercial, which was once again Australia’s biggest-selling vehicle with its myriad of 4x2 and 4x4 cab-chassis and pickup models totalling 4426 sales, closely followed by the Ford Ranger range (3544).

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It was also a good month for Mitsubishi, which returned to the top-5 on the back of a spike in sales of its Pajero Sport, and recently facelifted Outlander (1611) and Lancer (938) thanks to plate clearance sales. ASX small SUV numbers were well down, to 902, though this seems mostly due to the new, and similarly sized, Eclipse Cross (644).

Top-10 manufacturers

Manufacturer Feb Year to date

1. Toyota 18,281 33,587
2. Mazda 9913 20,026
3. Hyundai 8001 15,125
4. Mitsubishi 7142 12,405
5. Ford 6059 11704
6. Honda 4962 9543
7. Nissan 4863 9570
8. Holden 4689 10,408
9. Volkswagen 4671 8650
10. Kia 4664 9195

Top-20 passenger vehicles (Feb)

1. Toyota Corolla 3270
2. Mazda3 2935
3. Mazda CX-5 2191
4. Hyundai i30 2182
5. Toyota RAV4 1841
6. Hyundai Accent 1782
7. Volkswagen Golf 1649
8. Nissan X-Trail 1622
9. Mitsubishi Outlander 1611
10. Hyundai Tucson 1604
11. Mazda CX-3 1562
12. Kia Cerato 1491
13. Toyota Kluger 1420
14. Honda Civic 1409
15. Honda CR-V 1381
16. Toyota Camry 1381
17. Toyota Prado 1323
18. Kia Sportage 1102
19. Honda HR-V 1067
20. Subaru XV 1045

Top-5 micro cars

1. Kia Picanto 353
2. Holden Spark 109
3. Mitsubishi Mirage 103
4. Fiat 500/Abarth 595 61
5. Suzuki Celerio 1

Top-5 light cars

1. Hyundai Accent 1782
2. Mazda 2 959
3. Honda Jazz 846
4. Toyota Yaris 797
5. Suzuki Swift 634

Top-5 small cars

1. Toyota Corolla 3720
2. Mazda 3 2935
3. Hyundai i30 2182
4. Volkswagen Golf 1649
5. Kia Cerato 1494

Top-5 medium cars

1. Toyota Camry 1381
2. Mazda 6 233
3. Ford Mondeo 196
4. Skoda Octavia 150
5. Volkswagen Passat 143

Top-5 medium cars, $60k+

1. Mercedes-Benz C-Class 495
2. Mercedes-Benz CLA 292
3. BMW 3 Series 238
4. Audi A4 112
5. Lexus IS 94

Top-5 large cars

1. Holden Commodore 737
2. Kia Stinger 174
3. Mercedes-Benz E-Class 93
4. BMW 5 Series 73
5. Skoda Superb 66

Top-5 small SUVs

1. Mazda CX-3 1562
2. Honda HR-V 1067
3. Subaru XV 1045
4. Hyundai Kona 910
5. Mistubishi ASX 902

Top-5 medium SUVs

1. Mazda CX-5 2191
2. Toyota RAV4 1841
3. Nissan X-Trail 1622
4. Mitsubishi Outlander 1611
5. Hyundai Tucson 1604

Top-5 large SUVs

1. Toyota Kluger 1420
2. Toyota Prado 1323
3. Subaru Outback 821
4. Mitsubishi Pajero Sport 766
5. Mazda CX-9 707

Top-5 people movers

1. Kia Carnival 501
2. Honda Odyssey 174
3. Volkswagen Multivan 109
4. LDV G10 Wagon 62
5. Toyota Tarago 54

Top-5 sports cars

1. Ford Mustang 492
2. BMW 2 Series* 175
3. Merc-Benz C-Class* 134
4. Mazda MX-5 123
5. Toyota 86 88

*Coupe/Convertible