Australia’s new car market was very strong in March 2015, local trade group FCAI said, with sales up 8% year on year. The 105,054 unit tally for March was a record for the month.

The strong results coincided with the March 2015 release of CommSec’s Car Affordability Index, which found Australian car affordability was the best it has been in the 40 years since the index began, FCAI said. 

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Chief executive Tony Weber said the popularity of versatile SUVs and light commercial vehicles showed no signs of slowing down with SUV sales up 15.3% on March 2014  and 15.4% year to date (YTD).

“Light commercial vehicle sales increased 10.1% compared to March 2014 sales. YTD, light commercial vehicles are up 4.6%.

“In particular, we saw private purchases of light commercial vehicles increase significantly in March 2015, with sales up 33.4%. The versatility of these vehicles makes them a popular choice for many Australians.” 

Private purchases of SUVs increased 15.6% while private purchases of passenger cars fell 1.9%.

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Business buyers were drawn to passenger cars and SUVs last month, with sales up 9.3% and 10.9%, respectively. Business purchases of light commercial vehicles fell 4.4%. Government buyers purchased 4.4% more passenger cars, 17.7% more SUVs and 9.9% more light commercial vehicles.

Toyota was the highest selling brand in March 2015 with 18.2% of the market. Toyota was followed by Mazda (9.7%), Hyundai (8.3%), Holden (8.2%) and Nissan (6.8%).

The Toyota Corolla was the top selling car in March 2015 with 4,261 vehicles sold. The Corolla was followed by the Mazda3 (3,558), Toyota Hilux (3,346), Mitsubishi Triton (2,940) and Holden Commodore (2,436).