Car sales in Oz on track for one million: VFACTS

Overall sales of cars in Australia are slightly up on last year's results. In March 97,616 cars were sold; 3632 more than this time last year.

The top three remains the same, with Toyota as number one seller, on 47,375, followed by Holden on 28,945 and Mazda with 26,513.

The year-to-date figure is 260,122 meaning the projected outcome for sales is over one million cars this year.

The Large Car segment was down on sales (2109) versus this time last year. Best performers were Small and Light Car offerings; up 6.8 per cent and 9.9 per cent respectively. The Sports Car segment also had a strong month with an 18.1 per cent increase, or 4254 more cars) than in March 2011.

Of the Small cars, Holden's Cruze was third-best seller behind segment stars Mazda Mazda3 and Toyota Corolla.

"We've just celebrated our first anniversary for the locally-built Cruze, which continues to be a favourite with our customers. One year on, the sporty 1.4 iTi SRi and SRi-V models are still winning new fans," Holden Director of Sales, Philip Brook said.

Hyundai's i30 continues to be a strong seller in the category, helping the South Korean brand to hold fourth position, ahead of Ford.

Ford's fifth place is also vulnerable to a fast-moving Nissan. The brand is on a quest to become Australia biggest-selling importer and is claiming a record result here for the Japanese financial year (March-to-March) with an increase of 6.2 per cent. March 2012 was Nissan's fourth consecutive month of increased sales, with 8317 cars sold for the month.

Nissan has a strong product roll-out during 2012 with new Almera, Pulsar, LEAF and Patrol on their way.

Nissan's Executive GM of Sales and Fleet, Ian Moreillon: "With a rich collection of new product in the wings during 2012-13, we can only improve further on what is already a stellar result."

Holden said March was "a tough month" due to the Colorado being almost sold-out and the fact that the all-new model is still some months away.

All SUV segments are up: Small by 22.2 per cent, or 970 cars more cars this March than last; Medium by 20.6 per cent (1664 cars) and Large by 15.9 per cent. (1475 cars).

Winner among SUV sellers, Subaru said its new generation Impreza and XV "are being praised by customers for their combination of economy, style and quality. Features like fuel-saving auto start stop and information-packed multi-function displays are capturing customer attention, as are the cars good looks," said Subaru Australia MD, Nick Senior.

According to Subaru, over 1000 Foresters were sold in March. The brand's total sales of 4004 vehicles also included 432 Outbacks, 393 Libertys and 104 Tribecas rounded out the result, which represented a 4.1 per cent market share.

Making two-thirds of Subaru's sales during March, with 2738 cars, Kia made up the top ten and is making strong moves "up the Australian new car ladder". The brand enjoyed a 26.5 per cent increase during March over the same month in 2011.

"What is particularly satisfying is the spread of sales improvements across almost our entire model range," Kia Motors Australia Chief Operating Officer, Tony Barlow, said. Cerato is showing strong growth -- something that the newly released limited edition Extra can only help, while the new award-winning Rio is also gaining good traction in a very competitive segment.

"The SUV segment is still strong with Sportage and Sorento sales continuing to grow," he said. Barlow also said sales of the new Optima were helped by "better supply".

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