Australians bought fewer new vehicles last year than in 2010 and the six-cylinder gas guzzler that topped the charts since 1996 was dislodged by a 2-litre compact, dpa cited figures from the Australian Federation of Automotive Industries as saying Thursday. Sales were down 4.8 per cent in December on the equivalent month a year earlier and down 2.6 per cent for the whole year, it said. A total of 1,008,437 vehicles were sold, the fourth time the 1 million mark has been breached in the country of 22 million people. An import, Japan's Mazda 3, was the top-selling model, shading the Commodore, produced locally by Holden, a unit of General Motors Co. Toyota Motor Corp was tops for overall sales ahead of Holden with Ford Motor Co taking the third spot. European producers did not get a model in the top 10 sellers for 2011.
