VFACTS Wrap

The overall enthusiasm of shoppers took the showroom total last year to 1,035,574 vehicles, the second-highest on record and only the third time the ticker has flicked past one-million sales.

The Holden Commodore continued its 15-year reign as Australia's favourite car while record numbers of buyers flocked to small cars and SUVs, the two boom classes these days with downsizers and families looking for more value and flexibility in their garage.

But Maybach finished the year with a zero. No sales. It was the only brand that failed to trouble the official scorekeepers at VFACTS and the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries. In contrast, Rolls-Royce managed 25 deliveries, up from nine in 2009 for a 177.8 per cent boost in its result, despite a similar $1 million-plus bottom line to the Maybach.

Cashed-up Australians indulged their tastes for top-end cars last year, with Lamborghini, Aston Martin and Bentley all selling at least half as many cars again as they did in 2009.

Hyundai had the biggest improvement in volume as the South Korean company continued to win over Australian buyers. The brand's 80,038 sales were up almost 17,000 vehicles on the previous year. Standout performers were the i30 - the 2008 Carsguide car of the year - the new i45 mid-sized sedan and the Santa Fe SUV, along with its iMax and iLoad vans.

Sister company Kia also made an impact as its Cerato and Sorento models contributed to a 22.9 per cent rise in sales. More than 23,800 Kia-badged cars hit the roads last year, reinforcing the rise of the South Koreans in the local motoring landscape.

The VW Group's performance in Australia was extraordinary with a 26.4 per cent improvement for VW and a 31.9 per cent growth in Skoda sales. The Golf continues to be its best-s elling car with 15,425 buyers signing up for the 2009 Carsguide car of the year. Supply constraints are the only thing holding the Polo back, but 3195 cars still found homes in 2010.

The Octavia is Skoda's staple seller with 1174 sales, followed by 355 for the Superb, but the Roomster's quirky styling still hasn't endeared itself Down Under and only 26 vehicles left dealerships last year.

Toyota's dramas in the US weren't felt locally and the Japanese giant improved sales by 6.8 per cent to lead second-placed Holden by more than 81,000 cars. Brand T's established players - the Corolla, Hilux and Prado - drove growth, but the Prius hybrid is yet to endear itself to Australians, with sales falling from 3040 cars in 2009 to 1611 last year.

That's in contrast to its acceptance in its home market where the Prius has just been declared the top-selling car in Japan with 315,669 sales. That beat Toyota's own record for yearly sales of a single model, set by the Corolla 20 years ago. Part of th e reason is that, unlike Australia, Japanese sales are boosted by generous government tax breaks.

Toyota showed off a pair of Prius concepts at this week's Detroit Motor Show - a sporty Yaris-sized Prius c the company says will have the best economy of any petrol-electric hybrid and a seven-seater Prius v - that it says will extend the model's appeal with young buyers and families respectively.

The Commodore continues to defy the trend away from large cars with the big Holden improving sales by 1500 cars over 2009. The compact Cruze was the Holden hero last year, though, almost doubling sales to 28,334 cars and that's before local production starts at the company's Elizabeth factory in South Australia later this year.

Ford's Falcon couldn't match its locally built rival's growth and sales of the rear-wheel drive car fell by almost 5 per cent to 29,516 vehicles, ranking it a relatively low sixth in outright terms. The Territory continues to do well, though and sales of the Fiesta and Escape also give the Blue Oval brand cause for optimism and kept it at number three in the overall sales race, more than 10,000 vehicles clear of Mazda.

SUVs of all sizes continue to outperform the market led by the compact segment where growth was a staggering 36.6 per cent. The Subaru Forester topped the standings with 14,644 sales, just ahead of the Toyota RAV4 on 14,597 and the Nissan X-Trail with 9792.

Even the prestige SUVs enjoyed a 16.9 per cent rise headed by 3105 BMW X5 sales. The Mercedes-Benz M-Class was second with 2589 units to edge out the Lexus RX on 2534.