The Toyota Corolla has taken a narrow lead over the Mazda 3 in the race for the 2013 sales crown after another strong month in May.
The Corolla turned a 242-unit deficit into a 369-unit lead last month on the back of 3640 sales, easily accounting for the compact Mazda’s 3054 total. Toyota has now sold 16,774 Corollas so far this year, up 10.2 per cent on the same time last year, while the soon-to-be-replaced Mazda 3 is down 8.3 per cent at 16,405.
While the Corolla wrestled the year-to-date top ranking, it was its stable mate, the Toyota HiLux, which pipped it for the number one position in May with 3665 sales.
Another workhorse, the Mitsubishi Triton, jumped to fourth with 2606 sales, rebounding from a disappointing April in which just 1493 found new homes.
The Hyundai i30 (2512) and Holden Cruze (2133) small cars were the next best, while another Australian, the Toyota Camry (1934), slotted in at seventh place.
A fierce battle for eighth position between two SUVs was eventually won by the Mazda CX-5, which held off the Hyundai ix35 by just three units (1773 vs 1770), while the Ford Ranger (1702) rounded out the top 10.
Deep in runout mode, the Holden Commodore slipped to 12th place with 1647 sales, surrounded by the Mitsubishi Outlander (1652) and the Volkswagen Golf (1575).
While 96,788 May sales put the total market up 0.7 per cent on the same month in 2012, four of the top five manufacturers for the month experienced a dip in sales. Toyota, Holden, Mazda and Ford all fell between 2.5 and 8.0 per cent, while fourth-placed Hyundai was the only winner with a 16.6 per cent gain, spearheaded by the i20 (up 165.4 per cent), i40 (up 140.3 per cent) and ix35 (up 92.2 per cent).
Mitsubishi, Volkswagen and Honda all recorded double-digit percentage gains, while Nissan and Subaru declined 14.9 and 5.0 per cent respectively.
The i20 (1282) won a tight three-way battle in the city-car segment, edging out the Mazda 2 (1236) and the Toyota Yaris (1149).
After the four small cars that ranked in the overall top 10, next best was the Golf, followed by the Ford Focus (1536), Nissan Pulsar (1416) and Honda Civic (1305).
Prestige cars continue to perform strongly in the mid-sized segment, with the BMW 3 Series (538) and the Mercedes-Benz C-Class (523) filling the podium beneath the Camry. The Volkswagen Passat (495), Mazda 6 (492) and Volkswagen Jetta (366) were the next best sellers.
In the month when Ford Australia confirmed its October 2016 demise, the Falcon fittingly limped to its lowest monthly sales tally in history (707), missing April’s previous record by 10 cars. The Broadmeadows-built sedan held off the Toyota Aurion, which fell 36.5 per cent to 632 sales.
The Toyota 86 was again the dominant sports car, easily beating its South Korean rival, the Hyundai Veloster (582 vs 347).
The Nissan Dualis (1176) and Subaru XV (851) finished behind the ix35 in the small SUV segment, while the Toyota RAV4 (1454), Subaru Forester (1305) and Honda CR-V (1146) filled positions three, four and five in the medium segment behind the CX-5 and Outlander.
The Toyota LandCruiser Prado (1499) claimed top spot in the large SUV class ahead of the Ford Territory (1139) and the Holden Captiva 7 (1086).
After the three utes inside the overall top 10 in May came the Nissan Navara (1511), Holden Colorado (1379) and the Mazda BT-50.
Top 10 Best-selling Vehicles – May 2013
Toyota HiLux – 3665
Toyota Corolla – 3640
Mazda 3 – 3054
Mitsubishi Triton – 2606
Hyundai i30 – 2512
Holden Cruze – 2133
Toyota Camry – 1934
Mazda CX-5 – 1773
Hyundai ix35 – 1770
Ford Ranger – 1702
Top 10 Best-selling Vehicles – 2013 to date
Toyota Corolla – 16,774
Mazda 3 – 16,405
Toyota HiLux – 15,790
Hyundai i30 – 11,318
Nissan Navara – 11,082
Holden Cruze – 10,125
Mitsubishi Triton – 9598
Ford Focus – 8393
Ford Ranger – 8258
Holden Commodore – 8157
Top 10 Best-selling Brands – May 2013 (growth over May 2012)
Toyota – 19,003 (-7.0 per cent)
Holden – 8293 (-8.0 per cent)
Mazda – 8135 (-2.5 per cent)
Hyundai – 7315 (+16.6 per cent)
Ford – 7243 (-6.4 per cent)
Mitsubishi – 7011 (+36.0 per cent)
Nissan – 5928 (-14.9 per cent)
Volkswagen – 5527 (+16.6 per cent)
Honda – 3625 (+16.8 per cent)
Subaru – 3612 (–5.0 per cent)
Top 10 Best-selling Brands – 2013 to date (growth over 2012 to date)
Toyota – 83,950 (-0.5 per cent)
Mazda – 42,720 (+0.4 per cent)
Holden – 41,064 (–9.9 per cent)
Hyundai – 38,065 (+6.8 per cent)
Nissan – 34,900 (+10.6 per cent)
Ford – 34,817 (+1.5 per cent)
Mitsubishi – 28,072 (+13.9 per cent)
Volkswagen – 22,434 (+9.3 per cent)
Honda – 18,368 (+52.9 per cent)
Subaru – 16,594 (–3.7 per cent)
