Mazda 3 tops sales charts in September

Mazda vaults up three spots to relegate Toyota to second as Hyundai claims three top-ten spots.

Mazda has stormed back to the top of the sales charts in September, with its facelifted Mazda3 pushing the Toyota Corolla and HiLux down to two and three respectively in a market that sold 102,626 cars for the month.

It's a small 1.8 per cent jump over August, but the industry still looks set to crack 1.2 million sales for 2016.

Mazda's number one seller climbed from fourth position in August as stocks of the newly refreshed 3 came on stream, with 3491 cars sold for the month.

Mazda also says that it has finally cracked the 10,000-per-month average for the first time in its history.

The Corolla lagged only 68 units behind at 3423, with the HiLux (3209) pipping the Ford Ranger (2903) for third and fourth.

The gap between the HiLux and the Ranger narrowed slightly this month in terms of total sales of both 4x2s and 4x4s, with the Ranger outselling the HiLux in the popular 4x4 pick up segment by 140 units.

Hyundai's i30 climbed back up to fifth spot for September on the back of a strong retail offer, while the brand's Tucson medium SUV has finally cracked the overall top ten, one spot ahead of the tenth-placed Accent.

Mazda's CX-5, the Holden Commodore and the Mitsubishi Triton made up the balance of the top ten.

The gap between SUV and passenger car sales closed again for September, with a difference of just 2579 units between the two in favour of passenger cars.

The top ten companies remained static for September with one exception; Honda pushed Kia out of tenth spot.

Every passenger car segment lost ground during the month, with upper large cars down more than 24 per cent, while both light and small cars fell by 14 and 15 per cent respectively.

SUVs, meanwhile, gained sales across the board, with the popular medium sector jumping 19 per cent from August.

The top ten companies remained static for September with one exception; Honda pushed Kia out of tenth spot, despite a lift of just five per cent month on month for the Japanese company, compared to Kia's 20 per cent jump.

Mercedes-Benz was the best performer of the three main German prestige rivals with sales up 5.4 per cent over August, with Audi and BMW's figures remaining essentially static.

Poorest performances for the month came from Lotus, which failed to sell a single car, while the red ink continues to run for the Fiat Chrysler Australia group; every brand in its stable fell by at least 55 per cent month on month.

Volkswagen also recorded a decline of 14.5 per cent, with both the Golf (off 33 per cent) and the Polo (down 40 per cent) pulling down its September – and its annual – tally.

The September sales period also marks the last full on-sale month for the Ford Falcon and Territory, along with the locally made Holden Cruze.

The Falcon bows out with 462 for the month (more than the Ranger 4x2) and 3722 for 2016, while the Territory managed 631 for the month and 5426 for the year. 

The Cruze, meanwhile, says goodbye to Adelaide with 1404 units made in September and 9257 for the year. It will be replaced by the imported Astra hatch.

Top 10 selling models September 2016

Mazda3 - 3491
Toyota Corolla - 3423
Toyota HiLux - 3209
Ford Ranger - 2903
Hyundai i30 - 2741
Mazda CX-5 - 2662
Holden Commodore - 2366
Mitsubishi Triton - 2246
Hyundai Tucson - 2209
Hyundai Accent - 2189

Top 10 selling brands September 2016

Toyota - 16,716 - up 0.7 per cent
Mazda - 12,009 - up 10.5 per cent
Hyundai - 9319 - up 0.1 per cent
Holden - 8564 - down 8.2 per cent
Ford - 7280 - up 25.0 per cent
Mitsubishi - 6701 - down 3.4 per cent
Nissan - 5177 - down 1.2 per cent
Volkswagen - 4380 - down 14.5 per cent
Subaru - 4050 - up 11.8 per cent
Honda - 3787 - up 5.2 per cent

Which is your favourite top 10 best seller? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.