Holden Commodore sales surged in January, up 43 per cent on the same period last year, latest figures show.

Sales of the Holden cruze were up 9 per cent.

While Holden enjoyed a burst of activity, overall new car sales in South Australia slumped 14 per cent.

Nationally, January’s sales figures were down 3.7 per cent on January 2013.

Holden’s spokesman Phil Brook said strong sales of the Colorado range, Trax and VF Commodore built on the sales momentum Holden gained in the second half of 2013.

“Holden had a strong second half of 2013, with our sales volumes up 17.4 percent in the second half of 2013, compared to the first half of 2013,” Brook said.

“This positive sales trend has continued into 2014. We grew our market share both year on year and compared to December 2013. We also continued our trend of outperforming the market, with Holden sales growing by nearly one percent in a market down almost three percent year on year.

“Our dealers continue to tell us the VF Commodore is wowing buyers with its build quality, refinement and world-class technology.

“Demand for our SS V, SS V Redline and Calais V models continues to outstrip supply which is a nice problem to have.”

Australians bought 82,285 vehicles in January 2014, 3.7 per cent less than in January 2013.

Releasing the VFACTS figures for January 2014, Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries Chief Executive Tony Weber said New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory saw 3.4 and 2.4 per cent growth, respectively, while Western Australia and South Australia were down significantly—both over 14 per cent.

“Amid declining sales across the majority of segments, small SUV’s continued to be a popular choice. Sales in this segment reached 6,146 in January 2014, which is a 17.6 per cent increase on January 2013 small SUV sales,” Weber said.

The Mazda3 was the top selling car, with 4,561 vehicles sold. This was a significant 36 per cent increase on January 2013 sales. The Mazda3 was followed by the Toyota Corolla (Australia’s top selling car in 2013) with 2,914 sales. The Toyota Hilux was the third best seller with 2,544 sales. The Hyundai i30 was fourth with 2,486 and the Holden Commodore was fifth with 2,364.

Among the top ten, the Volkswagen Golf recorded a 71 per cent increase in sales compared to January 2013, reaching 1,590 (ninth position). The Holden Commodore also recorded a 43 per cent increase.

Following a continuous decline in government purchases in 2013, sales to government rose a total of 8.9 per cent in January 2014.

This growth was largely in the passenger motor vehicle segment, which was up 26.2 per cent compared to January 2013. Government purchases in the light commercial category rose 2.2 per cent and purchases of SUVs decreased by 8.4 per cent.

Business sales were down by a total of 7.8 percent.

The most significant decline was in the light commercial category, where sales were down 26.1 per cent. Purchases of SUVs were also down (11.5 per cent). However, business purchases in the passenger motor vehicle category rose 8 per cent.

Total private sales figures remained consistent with January 2013 figures. The growth in private purchases of light commercials continued, with sales up 10.8 per cent compared to January 2013. Sales of SUVs to private buyers also increased, with sales 3.9 per cent higher than in January 2013. Private purchases of passenger motor vehicles declined by 4.1 per cent.

Toyota was the top selling brand in January 2014, with 13,646 sales. Toyota was followed by Mazda (9,411), Holden (8,871), Hyundai (7,152) and Ford (6,804).

Toyota will decide the future of its Melbourne assembly plant later this year.

*State-by-state figures of Holden sales were not available