New car registrations rose 10.8 per cent in January compared with a year earlier to 6210, with commercials up 19.1 per cent from particularly low levels to 1313.
Transport Agency figures also show used car registrations - usually imported used cars - up to 7068 last month from 6828a year earlier.
Toyota was market leader for the month with 23.7 per cent of total new vehicle registrations, followed by Holden with 11 per cent and Ford with 10.5 per cent.
The Toyota Corolla was the top selling model in January at 907, of which 735 were bought for rentals, while the Holden Commodore was next at 380 of which 205 were rentals.
Motor Industry Association chief executive Perry Kerr said the industry would be very happy with the start of 2011.
The industry average projection was for growth of just under 4 per cent for the full year.
That was certainly not at the 14.8 per cent levels of 2010, which was not unexpected given the dismal level of sales during the 2009 economic downturn, Mr Kerr said.
