Holden has claimed Australia's top selling car for the ninth consecutive year, with Commodore extending an unbroken annual record for the nameplate since 1996.

Figures released recently show Holden also retained its position as the most popular passenger car brand in 2004 and became the market leader in the light truck segment, delivering four of Australia's top 10 selling vehicles in Commodore, Astra, Ute and Rodeo.

The record was driven by the VZ Commodore range launched in August, offering the new high feature V6 Alloytec engine built in Port Melbourne. The VZ Commodore was the first Australian manufactured sedan to offer the safety feature of Electronic Stability Programme (ESP).

The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries sales results revealed Holden achieved its second highest annual sales in 2004, selling a total of 178,027 units, slightly down on 2002 record sales of 178,392. Holden's market share for 2004 was 18.6 per cent, second to Toyota with 201,737 sales and 21.1 per cent market share and Ford third with 135,172 and 14.2 per cent share.

Cementing its market leadership in light truck sales, Holden produced a record annual sales result in 2004 as well as record sales in every month of the year.

The light truck segment, including top-selling Rodeo, Crewman, One-Tonner and Ute, has been a growth engine for Holden, increasing sales by 27 per cent on last year to achieve total sales of 47,631.

Rodeo's record sales of 24,055, and the top-selling Ute range, saw Holden sell 6183 more light truck vehicles than its nearest rival and win 29.1 per cent market share in the segment.

Astra, Holden's second biggest selling nameplate, continued to perform well, selling a total of 26,202 units. The new AH Astra was launched in Australia in November and represents an exciting opportunity for Holden in 2005, which is expected to be a strong year for all of Holden's four-cylinder range.

Holden Executive Director Sales and Marketing, Ross McKenzie, said the result reflected the value and diverse range of vehicles offered by Holden in a very competitive market.

"Last year was a very exciting year for Holden's locally manufactured vehicles with the VZ and WL range substantially upgraded in the second half of 2004, and this year will be just as exciting for our four-cylinder vehicles," Mr McKenzie said.

Mr McKenzie said competition was likely to remain at the same level of intensity in 2005 with more consumer choice and tough pricing from importers as a result of the tariff decreases and a strong Australian dollar.