SYDNEY, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Sales of new vehicles in Australia rose 2.9 percent in August compared with the same month a year ago, led by a boom in demand for small sports utilities.

The Australian Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries' VFACTS report on Thursday showed total sales were 90,705 in August, compared with 88,155 for the same period last year.

Sales were down 1.7 percent from July.

Sports utility vehicles (SUV) jumped 19.4 percent on August last year, with the small SUV segment surging 51.3 percent.

In contrast, sales of passenger vehicles extended their long decline with a drop of 4.6 percent, while demand for light commercial vehicles dipped 6.1 percent. Sales of heavy vehicles climbed 4.0 percent.

Toyota Motor Corp retained first place on the sales ladder with a share of 16.0 percent in the month. Hyundai Motor Co took second spot with 10.5 percent, while Mazda Motor Corp came in third with 10.1 percent.

The local Holden unit of General Motors Co took 8.7 percent, while Ford trailed with 5.9 percent.

Details of the VFACTS report in original terms:

Aug July m/m pct Aug/14 y/y pct

Sales 90,705 92,308 -1.7 88,155 +2.9

Sales by Type: Aug '15/Aug '14 Volumes

Change Pct Change

Passenger Vehicles -1,978 -4.6

Sports Utility +5,352 +19.4

Light Commercial -930 -6.1

Heavy Commercial +106 +4.0 (Reporting by Ian Chua; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)