Of greater significance is the year-to-date total sales figure of 524,376. This is up 41,216 or 8.5 per cent on the first half of 2006.

Clearly, the industry is heading towards a new record year. To reach a new record, the industry needs to eclipse the record year of 2005, when 988,269 new vehicles were sold.

The June and the half-yearly figures show some interesting facts.

June Sales

Light car, small car and medium car segments saw a combined total of an extra 5,244 sales in June 2007 over June 2006.

The large car segment was up 3.7 per cent, whilst the upper large segment was up 28.3 per cent.

The SUV segment was up 4.9 per cent, whilst the light truck segment was up 2 per cent.

June Success Stories

Holden showed an increase in sales last month, with 14,256 units going out the door. This is compared to 13,607 units being delivered in June last year. Holden has now sold 76,119 units year to date, which is an increase of 2.3%

Kia delivered 2,330 units last month, compared to 2,031 in June last year, making growth (June on June) a pleasing 14.7% for the brand. It's Rio is popular in the light car class and it's Carnival and Grand Carnival are leaders in the people moving class. The trendy Sportage is about to get a diesel. Kia's larger SUV, the Sorento will be enhanced by a diesel engine, too, in coming months.

Land Rover, having just released the exciting Freelander 2, is heading upwards. Last month they delivered some 327 units. In June last year, the brand delivered 292 units. The 12% growth rate (June on June) is above the industry June on June growth rate of 9%. The new Freelander 2, in addition to the other new products in the Land Rover range, should be exciting for the company as the market heads towards a year of a million units plus.

Mitsubishi sales continue to excite the company and that's with the new Lancer still months away from its local release. In June, Mitsubishi sold 8,192 units (up from 6,258 in 2006!).

Nissan had a particularly slight decrease in sales last month, but still delivered some 5,845 units. An interesting fact is that the brand is booming on a year-to-date basis with a sales growth of 20.2%. Sales total 32,176 YTD, compared to 26,776 for the same period last year. Nissan has numerous new models still to be released this year.

Peugeot performed admirably with the delivery of 1,016 units, compared to 764 units in June 2006. Peugeot has now delivered 4,549 units in 2007, representing a growth rate of 12.9%

Renault seized a June sales success story by delivering some 304 units, compared to 264 units in June last year.

Suzuki is the brand which cannot do a thing wrong! The brand 'leapfrogged' Kia (itself up 14.7% in June) with a massive 53.6% increase in June sales. Suzuki sold 2,368 units last month! A year ago, the June sales result for Suzuki was 1,542 units, which was a credible performance itself. Suzuki YTD growth now stands at an amazing 43.2%.

Volkswagen, also, continues to do no wrong. In fact, VW continues to do everything right! The brand sold 2,848 units last month. This makes the YTD sales figures of 13,766 very impressive, because the company is up 4,076 units YTD. In June 2006 the company sold 2,253 units.

Amongst the prestige marques, Audi delivered 676 units (441 units in June 2006), making its year-to-date growth rate an amazing 43% whilst BMW struggles with 6.6% YTD growth. The new vehicle market, as a whole, has a growth rate of 8.5%. Unless Lexus can improve the attractiveness of their products, it can be expected that Audi will overtake the Japanese brand fairly soon. But amongst the prestige marques, Mercedes-Benz remains in front with 8,969 sales year-to-date. Their new C-Class sedan (pictured opposite) will be released late this month, thus providing ample opportunity for the German brand to further extend their lead in 2007 new vehicle sales (amongst the prestige brands).

Saab continues the good times with some 336 units sold last month. In June 2006, the Swedish brand owned by General Motors, sold 281 units. The year-on-year increase of 19.6% is quite impressive, given the level of competitiveness amongst prestige marques. The availability of Hummer in the nation's Saab dealerships later this year will increase the exposure of the numerous Saab models. The coming BioPower models will, also, increase curiosity and provide priceless exposure for Saab.

Lamborghini continues its impressive sales record. Although only 3 units were delivered in June, the YTD total for the Italian maker of super cars is an impressive 28 units (up 21.7% YTD).

Porsche delivered 114 units in June, giving it a 4.4% growth rate YTD. This represents a growth rate of just over half that of the market as a whole.

Impressive results were achieved by several players in the upper end of the market. Some highlights were the June deliveries by Aston Martin (7 in 2007, 3 in June 2006), Bentley (17 vs 7), Lotus (3 vs 0) and Rolls-Royce (2 vs 1).

Caterham had one unit registered in June. This newcomer to Australia is preparing for its local launch later in the year.

Misery in June

Chrysler Group is battling declining sales back home in North America and is keen to expand sales in export markets. However, in Australia, the Chrysler brand is down 20.8% (297 sales in June 2007, 375 in June 2006). The new Sebring, a not very attractive mid-size sedan has been introduced but the Chrysler PT Cruiser is getting 'long in the tooth' and needs replacement now. Although the company did indicate the model was a one-off and when the model failed to sell the model would just fade away. But not to replace it would be a marketing disaster. Is it any surprise Mercedes-Benz sold the Chrysler Group? Meanwhile, the Jeep brand, despite all the new models, sold 18% fewer units in June 2007 than it did in June 2006. There were 487 Jeeps delivered last month, compared to 505 units in June last year. The Dodge brand, recently re-introduced into Australia, saw 147 units registered across the nation last month. With the oddly styled Nitro now on the market the ongoing sales story of Dodge should be interesting.

Fiat sold 143 cars and commercial vehicles during June, a figure which is less than the struggling Dodge brand! Will new products be sufficient to revive the Fiat brand in Australia?

Jaguar continues to slide downward. Only 74 units hit the road last month, compared to 95 in June last year. The brand has the negative growth rate -12.1% (June YTD) in a booming market. The question must surely be .... hello Jaguar, is anyone home?

Mini sold 191 units last month. Despite the arrival of the updated model, the brand has a growth rate of -5.8% YTD. This is not a good position to be in, as the expanding Australian market is providing excellent growth potential for all marques.