Toyota Corolla retains top spot

The traditional family favourite was only fourth in showrooms during October, beaten by no fewer than three compact cars and a work-and- play ute as Japanese brands continued their comeback surge in Australia and small-car sales continued to grow faster than overall demand.

Top spot in October went again to the Toyota Corolla, which repeated its victory from September and also achieved its third monthy sales win of 2011 with 3593 deliveries, ahead of the Volkswagen Golf in third overall and the Mazda3 in fourth.

The Toyota HiLux ute was second overall, and close to Corolla in the overall rankings with 3480 sales. Despite the October result, the Commodore continues to lead the year- to-date standings with Australian buyers. It is 371 ahead of the Mazda3 despite a cumulative total that is 8.9 per cent and more than 3000 cars behind the same time in 2010.

Holden was forced on Thursday to counter speculation that the VF Commodore will be the last locally-developed and made model when it hits the road in 2013, and was also on the back foot yesterday over the sales result last month.

"October was a pretty challenging month for us," admitted Phil Brook, director of sales at GM Holden. But he highlighted a recent value-pack Commodore, the Equipe, which boosts the car's value by around $9500 in a bid to win buyers back. '

Brook also said Holden is doing well with its Captiva SUV and with the compact Cruze - sixth in October - now into local production in Adelaide. "Customer demand for Cruze and Captiva was greater than availability, which can be a nice problem to have," he said.

While Holden looks to the Cruze to take up some of the Commodore slack, Toyota is building momentum for a big finish to 2011.

"October was the third month in a row where total industry sales were higher than the corresponding month of the previous year," said Dave Buttner, senior executive director of sales and marketing at Toyota Australia.

"This trend augurs well for the final two months of the year and the likelihood of annual sales topping one million for only the fourth time."

Top 10 sellers	October 2011
1. Toyota Corolla	3593
2. Toyota HiLux	3480
3. VW Golf	3337
4. Mazda3	3185
5. Holden Commodore	3018
6. Holden Cruze	2805
7. Hyundai i30	2798
8. Toyota Camry	2725
9. Ford Falcon	1591
10. Mitsubishi Lancer	1549