THERE’S more interest now in how the lower-rung players are coping with a drifting new-car market than there is in the ho-hum podium of utes.

The best example is how Mazda has performed. Noted as a darling of the industry, it had a fall back in September with its market share at 7.5 per cent (compared with 10.3 per cent in the same month of 2017), after a huge August thanks to its annual M Day sale, but in October, it regained ground and bounced back to 9.0 per cent.

Helping it along the way for October was its Mazda3 small car (up 6.7 per cent), Mazda6 (up 53 per cent) and baby SUV CX-3 (up 15.2 per cent). Attacking that forward movement was buyer lethargy for the BT-50 4×2 (down 29 per cent) with even the 4×4 (down seven per cent).

On the Top 20 ladder for October, Mazda filled three rungs. Climbers were the CX-5 mid-size SUV that defied its parent and came sixth (up from 14th spot) while the CX-3 baby came in at 19th from 26th in September.

Subaru also posted gains for its new Forester, leaping into seventh from last month’s run-out mode where it sat at 15th. Overall, however, Subaru slipped a modest 6.4 per cent in October.

Few on the ladder made significant gains, with the HiLux at the top, followed by the Ranger and then the Corolla in an unchanged trifecta.

Holden may have had an overall poor month but its Colorado hit its straps, jumping to 12th position from 21st last month. The Commodore was off the map at 45th, down with the unexpected plunge of the Subaru Impreza (49th), Kia Rio (52nd) and Isuzu D-Max (44th).

Toyota’s Kluger had a good month, lifting from 31 to 18th, but Hyundai’s new small SUV, the Kona, slipped to 20th from 13th.

But while it was good news for Mazda and Subaru, few others performed anything close to expectations.

October recorded a 23.6 per cent fall in passenger car sales compared with October 2017, taking its toll on players such as Citroen (down 48 per cent); Fiat (down 52.2 per cent); Holden (down 32 per cent); Infiniti (down 35.6 per cent); and Land Rover (down 44.8 per cent).

By Neil Dowling