(Updated with detail on used imports.)
Motor vehicle sales are continuing to roar ahead in a further demonstration of the strength of the current economic recovery.
According to latest Motor Industry Association figures, new passenger car registrations of 6347 vehicles in May were the best registration figures for May since 1990.
Commercial vehicle registrations remained "extraordinarily strong" too, with monthly registrations of 2577 vehicles, also the strongest May sales since 1990.
Year to date passenger vehicle registrations of 32,239 vehicles is 1236 (4%) ahead of this time last year (31,003 registrations). Year to date commercial registrations of 11,573 is 2828 (32%) ahead of May 2012 (8,745 registrations).
For the month of May Toyota remains the market leader with 19.4% market share, or 1731 registrations (1072 passenger cars and 659 commercials). Holden was second with 10.1% market share (692 registrations), closely followed by Hyundai with 685 registrations.
The top selling model for the month of May was the Ford Ranger with 483 registrations followed by the Toyota Hilux with 447 registrations reflecting a continued strong sales for light commercial vehicles on 2013.
The top selling passenger car model for the month was the Holden Captiva with 304 registrations, followed by with the Hyundai Santa Fe with 270 registrations, with the 3rd position going to the Toyota Corolla. In the commercial segment the Ford Ranger was the top selling model with 483 registrations, followed by the Toyota Hilux (447 registrations) and Holden Colorado (195 registrations).
For the month of May the SUV segment was the most popular with 30% of total registrations. This was followed by the Pick Up/Chassis segment which accounted for 20% of all registrations.
Imports of used cars were also very strong in May, reaching levels last seen in early 2008. 8,460 imported used cars were first registered in May 2013, with more than a quarter being Toyotas, and 84% being Japanese brands. The highest ever level of used imports arrived in August 2007 when 11,328 were first registered.
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