Solid start drives Toyota hopes of sales milestone
TOYOTA is claiming its best start to the year since 2012 even though the Mazda3 was Australia’s top selling car in January.
Sales of the Toyota Corolla, pictured, surged by 19 per cent last month, compared with the opening month of last year.
The Corolla also won the sales race in 2014 for the second year running. But in January, the Mazda3 topped the sales chart with 3903 models sold compared with 3472 for the Corolla.
Toyota, Australia’s most popular brand, said that its 16.6 per cent market share for January was the best start to the year since 2012.
“The solid start in January, backed by a slew of new and improved arrivals, gives Toyota confidence of surpassing 200,000 sales for the 11th time,” Toyota’s executive director of sales and marketing Tony Cramb said.
Toyota’s Hi-Lux was the best selling ute, but the Australian-built Camry failed to make the top 10 in January. Mazda was the second most popular brand last month, with an 11 per cent market share, and sold Australia’s most popular SUV, the CX-5.
Holden’s locally-built Cruze and Commodore made the top 10, as did Hyundai’s i30 hatch and ix35 SUV, Ford Ranger and Volkswagen Golf.