Luxury SUV sales still booming

New car sales may be going in reverse but it is pedal to the metal for the luxury SUV sector, with industry leaders saying there's plenty of fuel still left in the tank.

The battle for the top end of town is well and truly on, with Audi, BMW, Range Rover and Mercedes-Benz all fighting to capture the luxury dollar of high rolling motorists.

"All I can say is the 'bubble' hasn't burst," Martin Roller, dealer principal at BMW Brisbane, said.

Mr Roller said sales of the BMW X-series of sports activity vehicles have risen 15 per cent from last year, boosted on the back of the enduring popularity of the X5 and the new X4's release.

"Forty-five per cent of our total BMW volume in Brisbane are X-cars," he said. "Just over 10 years ago we didn't have an X model in our range at all. Given the size and the capability and the value for money (luxury SUVs) represent, they are taking away from small to medium prestige cars."

Rebecca Frizelle, from Audi Centre Springwood, said the dealership was doing "exceptional" sales in the brand's Q-series of luxury SUVs.

"Overall, 60 per cent of all our Audis sold are SUVs. That's massive," she said.

Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries chief executive Tony Weber said after two record years of growth in the Australian vehicle market, sales in 2014 had been down around 2 per cent overall.

But he said sports utility vehicles had been bucking the trend. "This is a long-term trend over the last decade, of a movement towards SUVs, and you see that in the streets," Mr Weber said.