The Australian automotive industry rolled into its second biggest year ever in 2010 as more than one million units of brand new vehicles hit the country's roads with industry experts expressing confidence that gains would be sustained in the current year, at least in a moderate way.

The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) said on Thursday that car sales breached the one million mark for only the third time in the industry's history as Australians snatched from dealers' offerings utes, SUVs, passenger cars and commercial vehicles, delivering a spike of 10.5 percent in total sales when compared to sales numbers compiled in 2009.

The FCAI report showed that a total of 1,035,574 units were sold in 2010 and leading the pack was the popular and gas-guzzling SUVs, which registered an overall sales of 232,285 units in the past year for a 25 percent surge from the segment's performance in the previous year.

FCAI chief executive Andrew McKellar has affirmed that the 2010 results for the automotive industry is the second best overall and he attributed the sterling performance to the solid Aussie currency, attractive financing packages and new car offerings that Australian vehicle aficionados seemed unable to resist.

More so, McKellar said that private buyers' confidence in the industry was boosted by the apparent economic improvements and better tariff rates for imported units encouraged affordability, prompting the FCAI to predict that vehicle sales for 2011 would again reach the one million mark.

McKellar said that growth forecast for the industry this year is at best modest but he stressed that indicators are around that new records may be set this year though he reminded that "it is a cautious but optimistic outlook for new vehicle sales."

The car industry's banner year, however, failed to pull up the fortunes of the large car segment, which again suffered a dip in 2010as Aurions, Commodores and Falcons year-round sales declined by 3.1 percent.

In spite of that, the automotive industry is generally buoyant as leading carmakers Toyota and Holden maintained their respective leading positions in 2010, with Toyota retaining its status as Australia's best-selling car in eight consecutive years while Holden kept its spot as the most popular car brand in the country for the past 15 years.

Even the luxury segment of the industry saw soaring numbers in 2010 as high-end brands such as Ferrari, Lamborghini and Rolls Royce all experienced double-figure growths on their annual sale results while popular luxury brands like Audi, BMW and Mercedes Benz returned mixed but generally impressive numbers.

Toyota sold more than 200,000 units in 2010, according to FCAI, while second best seller Holden came in second with its more than 132,000 units sold in the year, with Toyota dominating almost every segment of the industry though its popularity has been more apparent in passenger car and SUV sales.

The FCAI annual sales report showed that car sales consistently returned sterling numbers for the first three quarters of 2010, with an average sales hike of 14 percent from January to September but a snag was seen in the fourth quarter though growth continued while the December sales ended up as the least performer in terms of car sales for the year.