The real price of cars has fallen 22% in 20 years says the motor vehicle industry as sales rise in almost all categories

The annual rate of new vehicle sales now exceeds 125,000, the highest level since the industry started keeping these records in 1975.

The rise is being driven by very strong sales of commercial vehicles.

And vehicles are now much more affordable, due in large part by the strong dollar.

"Healthy economic confidence combined with competitive pricing is fueling strong demand for new vehicles," said David Crawford on the Motor Industry Association.

"The long run price of new vehicles in real terms continues to improve; over the last 20 years the CPI has increased by 57%, while the real price of vehicles has decreased by 22.5%, a difference of nearly 78% compared to 1994," Crawford said.

Toyota was the overall market leader in October with a 26% market share, with Ford second on 11% and Holden third with 10%.

The Toyota Corolla was the top selling new vehicle model in October with 1,257 new registrations, followed by the Ford Ranger with 627, the Toyota Hilux in 3^rd with 514 registrations.

Toyota remains the passenger car market leader for the month of October followed by Holden and Hyundai. Toyota was also the commercial vehicle market leader with a 23% share.

The sale of sports utility vehicles continues to be the strongest selling segment with 26% of all vehicles sales in October, followed by small passenger cars at 23% and pick-ups/chassis-cabs with 18%.

The Toyota Corolla was once again the top selling passenger model with 14% market share (1,257 units), followed by the Toyota Yaris on 5% (438 units) and the Holden Commodore on 3% (294 units). The Toyota October results were boosted with strong rental sales made up of 936 Corolla and 311 Yaris registrations for the month.

The Ford Ranger retained its position as the top selling commercial model with a 16% market share. The Toyota Hilux was the second best seller.