Vehicle market looking up in NZ

NEW Zealand’s July new-vehicle sales were well ahead of the same month last year, prompting distributors to readjust annual forecast upwards.

Combined passenger and light commercial vehicles sales reached 8361 last month, up 24 per cent on July 2011’s 6948 vehicles.

New passenger car registrations rose 27 per cent, to 6208, while light commercials rose 17.9 per cent to 2153. Used import registrations rose 0.3 per cent, to 6971 units.

NZ Motor Industry Association CEO Perry Kerr said the new-vehicle industry continued to outperform other sectors of the economy after shaking off the supply problems of 2011.

July sales figures provided by the MIA show Toyota again dominated, its 1629 sales up 59 per cent (603 units) on the corresponding month last year.

Toyota NZ sales and operations general manager Steve Prangnell said July sales were boosted by “catch-up sales” after last year’s supply shortages.

He said that in July last year, Toyota sales were just starting to recover from the Japanese tsunami.

“There’s no doubt there’s latent demand we weren’t anticipating, largely in the fleet market around infrastructure – new building in Auckland and rebuilding in Christchurch,” he said.



From top: Toyota HiLux Holden Captiva Suzuki Kizashi Honda Civic.

“And we have a dedicated sales team working in the large fleet area, so we’re pushing pretty hard.”Mr Prangnell said the private retail sales business was still tough, however.

“Those buyers are looking for added value,” he said. “But if you have a retail offer that speaks to the private customer’s concerns, you can now transact business with them, which you couldn’t in the last two years.”Ford came second in July sales, up 41 per cent, to 1004, with Holden third, up 32 per cent, to 912 units.

Holden NZ managing director Jeff Murray said the introduction of Barina was a key driver.

“The other shining light is Captiva with a competitive offer driving enquiry, helped by the SUV market’s significant year-on-year growth,” he said.

SUV sales for the first six months rose 41 per cent, to 12,792 vehicles.

Mr Murray said the market growth had taken the industry by surprise.

He said used-car import regulation changes had helped to drive growth, primarily at the price-sensitive bottom end of the market.

Hyundai was ranked fourth with 612 July sales, up 17 per cent, and Mazda fifth on 497, up 3.5 per cent.

Sixth-placed Nissan rose 4.4 per cent, to 471 sales, but Suzuki sales dropped 16.6 per cent, to 437 vehicles.

Suzuki sales manager Gary Collins said Suzuki had enjoyed a “cracker month” in July last year, and with that in mind, he was happy with last month’s performance.

“It’s our best month this year for SX4 and the same for Kizashi, and our best retail month for the last four months,” he said.

Mr Collins said private buyers were slowly returning, and Suzuki was seeing some benefit from new regulations damping used-import arrivals.

“Alto has had very large growth this year, our entry-level product picking up some potential used buyers,” he said. “Once you’re over the $20,000 bracket you don’t notice it so much.”Honda had a phenomenal July, up 139 per cent to 416 sales, putting the brand back in the top 10.

Honda NZ managing director Graeme Seymour said those numbers resulted from a combination of recovery from 2011’s disaster-driven shortages and increased demand from the arrival of CR-V and the Civic hatch.

“CR-V 2.4 Sport is selling for October and November arrival, and Civic hatch sales are now out to November arrivals for the top-spec model,” he said.

Mr Seymour said he expected good numbers for Honda to the end of the year, “tied to what we can supply”.

“We are trying to get extra stock, and expect sales figures to reflect arrivals, not demand,” he said.

Mitsubishi held ninth place, up 2.7 per cent, to 414 sales, while Kia rounded out the top 10, its 269 marking a 24 per cent rise over July 2011.

Best-selling model this month was Ford’s Ranger (330) by a nose from Toyota HiLux (328), followed by Holden Captiva (261), Suzuki Swift (242) and Toyota Corolla (235).

NZ July 2012 sales:
Rank	Make	Sales	Share %
1	Toyota	1629	19.48
2	Ford	1004	12.01
3	Holden	912	10.91
4	Hyundai	612	7.32
5	Mazda	497	5.94
6	Nissan	471	5.63
7	Suzuki	437	5.23
8	Honda	416	4.98
9	Mitsubishi	414	4.95
10	Kia	269	3.22