Toyota’s ute again finished behind the stablemate Corolla in the top 10 – 3554 v 3311 units – but it leads the hatch overall for the year by a narrowed margin of just 93 units.

The Hyundai i30 has slipped from top spot to third overall after finishing just eighth in August sales with a figure of 1864. It is the second consecutive month the model’s volume has dropped since attractive driveaway deals ended.

Hyundai i30
1

A big update for the Mazda 3 in August helped the Japanese hatch-sedan return to the top 10 after a surprising omission in July’s results. It was fourth with 2818 sales, not far behind the ever-impressive Ford Ranger (2964).

That knocked the company’s CX-3 out of the top 10, though the bigger CX-5 SUV remains a big-selling regular (7th, 1902 units).

The Toyota Camry had a strong month with nearly 2500 sales to place fifth, well ahead of the Holden Commodore in sixth with 1952.

Mitsubishi ASX
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The biggest surprise of August, though, has to be the Mitsubishi ASX, which jumped into the mix with a fantastic figure of 1781 sales.

A fourth Toyota, the RAV4, rounded off the top 10.

August’s total market of 94,909 is an increase of nearly five per cent over the corresponding month last year – boosting the year-to-date percentage increase to 3.0.

Top 10 selling vehicles in August 2016

RankModelSales
1.Toyota Corolla3554
2.Toyota Hilux3311
3.Ford Ranger2964
4.Mazda 32818
5.Toyota Camry2458
6.Holden Commodore1952
7.Mazda CX-51902
8.Hyundai i301864
9.Mitsubishi ASX1781
10.Toyota RAV41766

Race for 2016’s No.1 Sales Spot (at end of August 2016)

RankBrandSales
1.Toyota HiLux27,618
2.Toyota Corolla27,525
3.Hyundai i3026,937
4.Mazda 324,407
5.Ford Ranger24,037

Source: Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries