Record sales start 07 with a bang; Corolla top seller... Just!

January 2007 has started the new vehicles sales year off with a bang. Indeed the 76,936 new cars, trucks and buses sold last month is an all-time record and an increase of 9.9 per cent on last January’s now-eclipsed record mark.

The figures were announced yesterday by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI). They show that the increase was largely fuelled by what the automotive body terms "a continued boom in the popularity of small and light cars."

According to the January VFACTs stats, small car sales were up 4105, or 26.3 per cent, and Light cars grew by 1303 units, 14.3 per cent.

In line with the trend, Toyota's Corolla small car (pictured) was Australia's most popular vehicle in January with 3485 sales. It was narrowly ahead of Holden's Commodore which logged 3474 units.

FCAI chief executive Peter Sturrock called the move to smaller vehicles "a long-term trend beyond petrol price volatility." He stated it was "part of a fundamental shift in consumer preferences that's been gathering momentum for a couple of years."

Nonetheless, January did see both the SUV Medium and Large car segments show positive signs. Medium SUV sales rose 746 vehicles or 17.24 per cent, while Large car sales levelled out after last year's decline to be down just 81 vehicles (0.9 per cent).

"The reduction in petrol prices in December and January played a part in better sales of family sedans and wagons, but equally significant was new model activity in both segments," said Sturrock.

Toyota was the bestselling brand in January with 16,238 sales, ahead of Holden (11,258) and Ford (7501). Mazda was in fourth place, reporting record sales of 6627 units -- up 23.1 per cent on its previous best kick-off month, January 2005.

Also posting strong sales increases were sixth-placed Nissan, which rose 25.1 per cent and seventh-placed Mitsubishi with an increase of 26.8 per cent.

Mercedes-Benz, Audi and Subaru also claimed record sales results for the months.

Though the near-10 per cent sales boost in January would annualize sales at well over the magic million unit mark, the FCAI is still forecasting total sales of 970,000 for the 2007 calendar year.

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