2014 car sales: The winners

TOYOTA is once again Australia’s most popular car brand after it topped the official sales charts in 2014.

But if Toyota’s dominance is no surprise – this is the Japanese brand’s 12th consecutive year as number one – Hyundai’s surge into podium contention is.

Hyundai was the big winner in 2014, notching an impressive 100,011 deliveries to exceed its 2013 sales by 3.1 percent and set the stage for it to overtake current podium sitters Holden and Mazda next year.

Hyundai’s growth comes in an overall market that was down 2.0 percent for 2014, with Australians buying 1,113,224 cars last year – 23,003 fewer than 2013’s record-breaking tally.

Subaru is the only other brand to have increased sales in 2014, up 0.8 percent thanks to strong performances from Impreza, XV and the new WRX.

Overall, there’s no escaping Toyota’s dominance, with its 203,501 sales (thanks mostly to huge Corolla, Camry and Hilux volumes) almost doubling its nearest rival Holden, which moved 106,092 units in 2014 to be down 5.3 percent year on year.

Other notable movers in 2014 were Mercedes-Benz and Jeep, which both recorded impressive growth, 15.8 percent and 37.2 percent respectively, to sit just outside the Top 10.

Fellow luxury brands Audi (up 20.0 percent) and BMW (up 10.7 percent) also experienced growth.

Renault enjoyed a welcome return to form thanks to a sales spike (more than 300 percent) of its new Clio small car to finish 2014 up 42.7 percent overall, cracking the 10,000 sales barrier by 14 units.