Hyundai i30 tops sales charts again in September

New-car sales are powering as we near the end of the year — and it looks set to remain a buyer's market.

Last month was not only the best September on record — the first time it has eclipsed 100,000 deliveries after hovering around 92,000 to 94,000 in recent years — it was the fifth record month this year.

With a weakening Aussie dollar against the US, UK and Euro currencies there was a very real threat of price rises by now.

But the industry is so competitive prices are remaining at historical lows.

You can thank foreign factories for this phenomenon. In their efforts to keep their factories running efficiently by pumping out as many cars as possible, they are pushing cars onto booming markets such as Australia.

While record low interest rates enable many buyers to upgrade to a new model by making the same repayments as — or less than — their previous car, low prices continue to tempt.

Australians are getting better at reading the car market and knowing when is a good time to buy

Hyundai was Australia's top selling car last month after the i30 hatch knocked off the Toyota Corolla and Mazda3, our favourites for the past four years.

It was Hyundai's second win in four months but there was a common denominator: $19,990 drive-away with auto, about $5000 off full price.

Interestingly, when Hyundai tried to charge $21,990 in the next two months, sales stopped.

Australians are getting better at reading the car market and knowing when is a good time to buy. And that's good news for all of us.

Meanwhile, as predicted last week, the ute battle is heating up. The Ford Ranger beat the Toyota HiLux for the second month this year.

But it turns out Toyota ran out of stock ahead of the new model; the HiLux was even beaten by the Triton and only just managed to stay in the Top 10 in September.