The Mazda3 has started 2013 the same way it finished 2012, at the top of the small car sales charts.
A total of 3345 Mazda3 sedans and hatches were delivered in January, outselling the new Toyota Corolla with its 2960 units and the Ford Focus' 2364. Fourth place was claimed by the Hyundai i30 (2006), clear of the Holden Cruze (1638) in fifth place and Honda Civic (1397) in sixth spot.
A margin of only 14 cars separated the seventh-placed Volkswagen Golf and eighth-placed Mitsubishi Lancer, with 844 and 830 vehicles sold respectively.
The Hyundai Elantra with 534 units ranked ninth, while the Subaru Impreza (450) completed the top 10, squeezing out the Kia Cerato (420) and the Nissan Pulsar (348) – the latter number representing launch vehicles and dealer registrations ahead of the Pulsar's official February 1 on-sale date.
The Opel Astra continues to find its feet slowly, recording just 76 sales, while the?Toyota Prius?hatch, with 29 sales, trailed its hybrid siblings, the smaller Prius C (204) and larger Prius V (100).
Despite small cars making up 22.4 per cent of the new car market for the month, demand for vehicles in the segment declined 1.2 per cent compared with January 2012. The light car segment performed significantly stronger, expanding 19.1 per cent over the same month in 2012.
Top 10 best-selling small cars – January 2013
1. Mazda3 – 3345(-17.3 per cent)
2. Toyota Corolla – 2960(-12.5 per cent)
3. Ford Focus – 2364(+50.0 per cent)
4. Hyundai i30 – 2006(+1.0 per cent)
5. Holden Cruze – 1638(-33.0 per cent)
6. Honda Civic – 1397(+639.2 per cent)
7. Volkswagen Golf – 844(-19.7 per cent)
8. Mitsubishi Lancer – 830(-43.5 per cent)
9. Hyundai Elantra – 534(-24.8 per cent)
10. Subaru Impreza – 450(+30.4 per cent)
