Australia new vehicle sales edge up in Feb-VFACTS

SYDNEY, March 5 (Reuters) - Sales of new vehicles in Australia edged up in February, from the previous month, but still lag the strong pace set early last year, an industry report showed on Wednesday.

The Australian Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries' VFACTS report showed sales were up 5.3 percent on January at 86,818, which when adjusted for seasonal factors equated to a rise of 0.6 percent.

However, sales were down 3.8 percent on February last year. Taking January and February together sales were running 3.7 percent behind the same period in 2013, but still pointed to a solid annual pace of 1.11 million vehicles.

For February alone, Toyota Motor Corp 7203.T retained first place on the sales ladder with an increased market share of 18.7 percent.

Mazda Motor Corp 7261.T had another brisk month to hold second spot at 10.6 percent, ahead of the local Holden unit of General Motors Co GM.N at 10.0 percent.

Hyundai Motor Co 005380.KS came fourth with 9.0 percent, while Ford Motor Co trailed badly with 7.2 percent. Both Ford and GM have announced plans to close their Australia car making units in the face of fierce competition and sustained losses.

Details of the VFACTS report in original terms:

Feb Jan m/m pct Feb/13 y/y pct

Sales 86,818 82,285 +5.3 90,218 -3.8

Sales by Type: Feb '14/Feb '13 Volumes

Change Pct Change

Passenger Vehicles +313 +0.7

Sports Utility -967 -3.6

Light Commercial -2,567 -14.5

Heavy Commercial -179 -7.5

(Reporting by Wayne Cole; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)

((Wayne.Cole@thomsonreuters.com)(612 9373 1813)(Reuters Messaging: wayne.cole.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))

Keywords: AUSTRALIA ECONOMY/VEHICLES