Car sales April 2012: Mazda shocks Holden

The official industry sales figures for April aren’t released until later this week, but provisional information reveals the Japanese brand registered just under 100 more vehicle sales than the local car maker.

Mazda sold approximately 7680 vehicles in April 2012 compared with about 7590 for Holden.

It’s another sales milestone for Mazda, which has already previously claimed the scalp of another local car maker, Ford.

Mazda is typically the third best-selling car maker in Australia, but Holden's April figures have been adversely affected by a dearth of Colorado ute stock. Supply has virtually run out as the company awaits an all-new Holden Colorado (above) that goes on sale in June.

Mazda's new CX-5 SUV (main picture) is understood to have performed strongly in April, while the Mazda3 has continued as Australia's best-selling vehicle.

Holden remains ahead of Mazda in year to date sales.

South Korean brand Hyundai just scraped over the 7000 sales mark to secure fourth position in April, with Ford recording just over 6300 in fifth, according to the provisional figures.

Toyota continues to put daylight second to competitors, with more than 17,000 sales for April.