New VFACTS record for February

February new vehicle registrations hit an all-time high as the buyer switch-out of passenger cars continues.

Official VFACTS data issued today showed 90,424 new vehicles registered in February – up 4.2 per cent on the same month in 2014 – with around 53 per cent accounted for by SUVs and light commercials.

The February result brings the total for the year to 175,540 – two per cent higher than the same YTD period in 2014 – meaning the market is again headed for a one million-plus result and consumer confidence appears to have improved in the new year.

The big movers in February were small SUVs, which grew by more than 50 per cent compared to the same period in 2014, while medium and large SUVs grew by around 14 and 19 per cent respectively. Light commercials registrations increased 2.7 per cent.

Nevertheless, the Mazda3 and Toyota Corolla continue to battle it out at the top of the individual vehicle registrations ladder, the latter taking the month but the former still holding on overall. The small car segment also remains the country's largest, although down 9.1 per cent year-on-year.

Toyota also had the HiLux (third) and locally-manufactured Camry (10th) in the top 10, while the Mazda CX-5 (pictured) was the country's most popular SUV and sixth overall. Hyundai was represented by the i30 (fifth) and ix35 (ninth), Holden the fourth-placed Commodore, Mitsubishi the seventh-placed Triton and Ford the eighth-placed Ranger.

Toyota led the month overall and dominates the year to date with its best figures since 2010. It is already more than 11,000 units ahead of Mazda and more than 13,000 ahead of Holden. In February, Hyundai usurped Holden to take third place, although it lags by about 1300 registrations overall, for the full year so far.

Ford continues its dismal performance, with only the Ranger 4x4, EcoSport and Transit delivering growth. After finishing fifth overall in 2014, it has slipped to sixth after two months of 2015 and in February was only seventh on the ladder with 5022 registrations. Blue oval sales are down a disastrous 20.7 per cent YTD.

The new FG X continues to show no kick for Falcon, with just 501 sedans registered in February, down 8.7 per cent on the same month last year when 549 FG IIs moved out of dealerships. The FG X is being slaughtered in the now almost meaningless battle of the big local cars, with 2517 VF Commodore sedans and wagons registered in February, itself down 9.4 per cent on February 2014.

Worse, the VF is down more than 16 per cent YTD, while overall Holden is off 7.7 per cent.

Nissan and Mitsubishi are two volume brands headed in the right direction. The former is riding on the coat-tails of the new Qashqai (small) and X-Trail (medium) SUVs, the latter is still eking life out of its ageing range led by Triton, but with contributions from ASX, Challenger, Outlander and even the Pajero. Meanwhile Honda is also showing signs of life, courtesy of the new HR-V and third generation Jazz.

Undoubtedly the passenger car success story in Australia in 2015 is the new W205 Mercedes-Benz C-class, which has claimed 44.3 per cent of the medium over $60,000 segment and lags only behind the Camry as the most popular medium-sized car overall no matter what the price.

The C-class' astonishing performance is driving a 21.2 per cent year-on-year growth rate for Benz, while fellow luxury leaders Audi and BMW are up 11.9 and 13.5 per cent respectively.

Not all luxury brands are doing as well, with Lexus only holding steady despite the arrival of the NX compact SUV and Volvo slipping 26.3 per cent with most models headed in the wrong direction.