NZ Sales: Records tumble in November

BY MATT BROGAN | 3rd Dec 2021

NEW ZEALAND has enjoyed a record-breaking November with new vehicle registrations up by almost 40 per cent over the same time last year.

Recent shipment arrivals have helped alleviate some of the long wait lists facing popular models, while careful forward planning by distributors has served to reduce the impact of shipping restraints related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and global microprocessor shortage.

Motor Industry Association Chief Executive David Crawford said it was the strongest month of November on record for passenger and commercial vehicles.

Mr Crawford said the market remains buoyant despite stock levels remaining low, and that a steady supply of new vehicles to market should see the trend continue.

A total of 16,327 new vehicles were registered across New Zealand in November, an increase of 37.3 per cent (or 4438 units) on the same month last year.

Passenger and SUVs comprise the majority of new vehicle sales with 11,233 units, the balance of 5118 units coming from the sale of light commercial vehicles. The Ford Ranger continues to take top spot on the NZ sales ladder, ahead of the Mitsubishi Outlander and Toyota Corolla in second and third place respectively.

For the month of November, the top market segments were SUV compact (22 per cent), followed by SUV medium (19 per cent) and pick-up/cab-chassis 4x4 (15 per cent).

Toyota remained the overall market leader with a 19 per cent share (3126 units), followed by Mitsubishi (14 per cent / 2312 units) and Ford (12 per cent / 1948 units).

Toyota also retained the market lead for passenger and SUV registrations with a 19 per cent share (2129 units), followed by Mitsubishi (17 per cent / 1937 units) and Kia in third place with a 10 per cent market share (1146 units).

The top selling passenger vehicles for the month were the Mitsubishi Outlander (1017 units), Toyota Corolla (734 units) and Toyota RAV4 (726 units).

The popularity of electrified vehicles shown in last month’s figures also continues in November with 17 per cent of new vehicles sold featuring some form of electrification in their driveline. There were 947 battery electric, 432 plug-in hybrid, and 1463 hybrid vehicles registered in New Zealand last month.

Top selling battery-electric models include the Tesla Model 3 (408 units), MG ZS (121 units) and Hyundai Ioniq 5 (100 units). Plug-in hybrid sales were dominated by the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross PHEV (171 units) and Mitsubishi Outlander (100 units), the MG HS PHEV tailing with 40 unit sales.

Hybrid sales were consistently strong, the best-selling trio comprising the Toyota RAV4 (553 units), Toyota Corolla (182 units) and Honda Jazz (130 units).

Continuing a trend seen in both Australian and New Zealand markets, sales of light commercial vehicles remains strong with Ford retaining its market lead in both countries. In New Zealand, the Ford Ranger retained top spot in November with 1538 unit sales (or a 30 per cent share), followed by the Toyota HiLux (662 units / 13 per cent) and the Nissan Navara (416 units / eight per cent).

Year to date there have been a total of 153,363 new vehicle registrations in New Zealand, an increase of 37.8 per cent (or 42,123 units) when compared to the first eleven months of 2020.

Top 10 Brands in NZ November 2021

Brand Sales Share (%)

Toyota 3126 19

Mitsubishi 2312 14

Ford 1948 12

Kia 1146 7

Hyundai 914 6

Nissan 894 5

Suzuki 625 4

MG 465 3

Mazda 433 3

Honda 426 3