Toyota single-handidly bested the combined efforts of Australia-based Holden and Ford in new car sales in October, a first for the Japanese automaker (though we're guessing not a last). Toyota has been the market leader in Australia for the last four years, but the 20,212 vehicles it sold in October just eclipsed the 19,621 vehicles sold by Holden and Ford combined. Even worse for the homeboys, Holden and Ford were part of only 7 out of 42 brands that didn't post sales increases in October. Toyota execs continued to be annoyingly polite, suggesting that their competitors would bounce back when they updated their lineups later that year.
Sales of light cars are up 9.2%, but four-wheel-drives are leading the market with a 15% increase year-over-year. The best-selling car is still Holden's Commodore sedan, but Ford's older Falcon was down 22% through October compared to last year. Ford is pinning its hopes on a refreshed Falcon to turn things around next year. [Sydney Morning Herald]