Car sales rise slightly

Press, 30 December 1982, Page 16

Car sales rise slightly

November new-car registrations, at 5980, were up 172 on the October figure — a small increase, but certainly better than nothing. Although the Ford Cortina was the best seller in November and the Laser was in third place, Todd Motors took the lion's share of the market by a whisker — 20.5 per cent to Ford’s 20.3 per cent.

As the Cortina and Laser combined were ahead of Todd’s Mitsubishis, the Mirage and Sigma, by 172 units, it must be assumed that the newly-introduced Tredia accounted for Todd leadership.

Another newcomer also made an impact. The front-wheel-drive Nissan Sunny, the replacement for the old Datsun Sunny, was fourth on the November .best-selling list. In October the Sunny was eighth. November’s top 10, with October registrations and positions in parentheses, were: 1, Ford Cortina 549 (408, 3); 2, Mitsubishi Mirage 548 (325, 7); 3, Ford Laser 532 (515, 1); 4, Nissan Sunny 469 (310, 8); 5, Mitsubishi Sigma.. 409 (381, 5); 6, Honda Civic 366 (393, 4); 7, Honda Accord 338 (334, 6); 8, Holden Commodore 329 (258, 9); 9, Toyota Corolla 308 (412, 2); 10, Mazda 323 310 (—). Unless something very much out of the ordinary has occurred this month; Ford will be the market leader for 1982. At the end of November it was 1738 units ahead of Todd, with 7169 Lasers and 6832 Cortinas registered in the first 11 months of the year.