January 2015 New Vehicle Registrations in Overdrive, Strongest January on Record

David Crawford the Chief Executive Officer of the Motor Industry Association says “Businesses and consumers continued to loosen their purse strings in January 2015, with 11,667 new vehicle registrations resulting in the strongest January monthly sales on record. 

January 2015 registrations were 1,139 (11%) ahead of January 2014, made up of 9,010 passenger vehicles and 2,657 commercial vehicles, which are also the strongest passenger and commercial new vehicle registrations for January on record.

Passenger vehicles for the month of January were 717 units (8.6%) ahead of January 2014 and commercial vehicles for the month of January were 422 units (19%) ahead of January 2014”
Toyota was the overall market leader for the month of January with 21% market share (2,409 units) followed by Holden with 13% (1,519 units) and Ford third with 9% market share (1,006 units).

Toyota also remains the market leader for passenger vehicles with 22% market share (1,941 units), followed by Holden with 14% (1,280 units) and Hyundai with 8% market share (746 units).  The Toyota Corolla was the top-selling model with 792 units registered in January (9%), helped by 582 rental car registrations, followed by the Holden Commodore with 445 units (5%) and Toyota RAV4 with 436 units (5%).

Ford was the commercial market leader for the month of January with 19% market share (504 units), followed by Toyota with 18% (468 units) and Nissan third with 10% market share (254 units).  The Ford Ranger retained its position as the monthly top selling commercial model for January with 16% market share (417 units) followed by the Toyota Hilux with 12% (324 units) and the Nissan Navara with 10% market share (254 units).

The sale of sports utility vehicles segment continues to grow, reflecting international trends, with 32% market share for the month of January followed by small passenger cars on 19% and pick-ups/chassis-cabs with 16% market share.

​“New vehicle sales for 2015 have started where they left off in 2014, with the outlook for 2015 remaining very positive,” said Mr. Crawford.