Latest sales figures show the Australian market is on pace to break the record number of new cars sold in a calendar year but WA is bucking the trend with sales well down on the same time last year.
With 761,440 cars sold in Australia in 2015 so far, the national market is up 3.32 per cent compared with the same time last year. This puts it on pace to break the record of 1,136,227 vehicles sold in 2013.
But in WA things arenâ€[TM]t going so well with 70,952 cars sold in 2015 marking an 8.9 per cent drop compared with last year.
Itâ€[TM]s easily the biggest dip out of all the States, with South Australia (-2.5 per cent) and the Northern Territory (-0.5) the only other areas with sales down down on 2014.
The most obvious contributing factor would appear to be the slowing of the resources industry. Rental (-28.2 per cent), government (-25.8) and business sales (-4.9 per cent) are all well down but average buyers also appear to be wary of splashing out for a new car, with private sales down 8.4 per cent on the year.
Much like the rest of the country, those who are buying new cars in WA are opting for SUVs â€" the smaller, the better.
WA SUV sales as a whole are up a relatively minor 2.8 per cent this year but dig deeper and you can see why manufacturers are eager to have these small high-riders in their showrooms. 
Small and medium SUVs were the only segments to be up on last year in WA, posting year-to-date gains of 15.3 and 8.3 per cent respectively. Combined, they make up for 24 per cent of new cars sold here.
Not surprisingly, many brands are down on last year, with even volume car companies such as Toyota (-10.1 per cent), Ford (-23.1), Holden (-20.6), Hyundai (-15.6), Kia (-9.4 per cent) and Nissan (-9.2) in the negatives.
But itâ€[TM]s not bad news for all the mainstream marques. Mazda is up 6.4 per cent, aided in part by the introduction of the immediately popular CX-3 baby SUV. Honda entering the compact SUV game with the HR-V sees its WA sales up 6.6 per cent, while the new Triton and run-out sales of the outgoing Triton have helped Mitsubishi be ahead by a modest 1.4 per cent.
Things are also good for prestige brands, with Audi (18.2 per cent), BMW (11.7), Lexus (38.7) and Porsche (401.7) all up on last year; the latter two continuing the trend of new SUV models aiding sales, with the NX and Macan respectively.
 Toyota remains the bestselling brand in Australia, making up 17.5 per cent of all new cars sold â€" second-placed Mazda has 9.9 per cent.
The Corolla was the most popular car for   August and (like Hawthorn) is on track to finish number one overall for the third consecutive year.
The Mazda3 was second for the month and Hyundai i30 fourth but, in a victory of sorts for the local auto industry, the Australian-made Holden Commodore was third (second if you include ute sales) and the Australian-designed and developed Ford Ranger came in fifth.
Much like the rest of the country, those who are buying new cars in WA are opting for SUVs â€" the smaller the better.