ON THE surface, the sales tally of 2007 was nothing out of the ordinary. Toyota retained its pole position (for the fifth year running), the top brands were mostly Japanese and Mercedes-Benz and BMW remained the only luxury marques in the list.

All in all, the brands in the Top 10 list were familiar and there was no dark horse.

But on closer examination, things may be on the brink of change.

For instance, the gap between Honda - the No. 2 - and Toyota was relatively small. Excluding parallel import numbers, only 5,000 or so vehicles separated the two.

In recent years, Toyota has long had a five-figure lead over its nearest rival.

From this, it is clear Toyota has lost some of its shine. A limited model range (compared with what the parallel importers offer) and the imminent launch of the new Corolla Altis are largely responsible for this.

The new Altis - which makes up the bulk of Toyota distributor Borneo Motors' sales - will be available from next month. Borneo will also have the Wish seven-seater this year, five years after parallel importers introduced the model.

But will the new models help Toyota pull farther ahead? The jury is still out on this.

Meanwhile, Honda is expected to capitalise on this chink in the Toyota armour - temporary or otherwise. It has up to four new models this year: the Accord, Jazz, City and, possibly, the Odyssey.

Hence it is not inconceivable that Honda could sneak up on Toyota and steal its crown. For the record, Honda has not had the No. 1 spot since the late 1990s.

Elsewhere, the perennial battle between Mercedes-Benz and BMW for supremacy in the luxury segment has resulted in another close race. Excluding parallel import sales, BMW has managed to overtake its archrival again by selling about 100 more cars.

While it may not be conceivable now, Audi may be in the running by the end of the decade. The question is whether it will take away more sales from Merc or Beemer.

Although it is not in the Top 10 list, Porsche made everyone sit up by garnering 300 new customers last year - a record. This makes it the best-selling luxury sports car brand. Authorised Porsche agent Stuttgart Auto is confident of repeating its sterling performance this year.

Other sports car brands like Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati and Aston Martin also chalked up record sales last year.

As usual, the Japanese enjoyed a lion's share of car sales. Hyundai was the only Korean brand to make it to the Top 10 list last year, but its 5,000-plus tally was a shadow of its peak in 2004, when it sold over 13,000 cars.

It lost sales largely to Japanese parallel imports, but observers reckon the growing population of Hyundai Sonata taxis on the road may also have diluted its appeal to car buyers.

With fewer COEs available this year, the sales race is expected to go on overdrive.