Toyota's Avensis (4,818) has been the leader consistently in this 28 per cent of the market segment for over a decade. It is comfortably ahead of Nissan's Primera (4,729) and Ford's Mondeo (4,169) snapping at each other for second place.
Renault's Laguna II (4,065) capitalised well on its achievement of Semperit Irish Car of the Year 2002, and improved both its units sold and market share strongly.
VW Passat (3,708) and Skoda Octavia (2,795) held their sales comfortably, and two strong performers were Audi's A4 (1,860) and Citroën's C5 (1,337).
Mazda's 6 replacement for the 626 came late to market, but has already outsold its predecessor's complement for last year, and will likely make a good impression next year, following its achievement of the Semperit Irish Car of the Year 2003.
- Brian Byrne