NZ Sales: February figures remain strong

TOYOTA snuck ahead of Mitsubishi by a single percentage point in February to lead the New Zealand new-car sales market.

With a 16 per cent market share (sales of 1972 units), Toyota led Mitsubishi’s 15 per cent (the latter had a 1927-unit sales figure) to take first place for the second month of 2022. The Japanese duo finished ahead of Ford, which placed third with an 11 per cent market share (1400 unit sales).

Year to date sales, however, show that Mitsubishi is still in the lead; the importer’s strong January sales gave it a six per cent lead over Toyota, with an 18 per cent market share overall. Ford remains in third place outright with a 10 per cent share of the Kiwi market.

Motor Industry Association CEO David Crawford said that the February 2022 figures were the highest tally for the month that had ever been recorded. New Zealand registered 12,551 new vehicle sales in February, which was up 0.5 per cent (63 units) on the year prior, despite a year-to-date slide of 1.2 per cent (316 units) overall for the first two months of 2021.

“As anticipated with the pending changes to the Clean Car Discount scheme (which will come into effect on 1 April), there has been a shift in sales patterns ahead of the full feebate coming into effect,” Mr Crawford explained.

“Sales of passenger cars and SUVs has softened slightly whereas sales of light commercial vehicles, most of which will pay a fee from 1 April onwards, have strengthened.

“This is likely to be repeated in March sales. Once the Clean Car Discount (the feebate side of the scheme) comes into effect, we anticipate sales of light commercial vehicles will soften,” he said.

Mr Crawford said that, year to date, there had been a small reduction of the overall share of the market for small vehicles, which was down from 56 per cent for most of 2021 to 53 per cent for February. He said that reflected the strong sales of light commercial vehicles ahead of the 1 April feebate scheme (Clean Car Discount) taking effect.

Sales of passenger and SUV models slowed in February with a total of 7680 units registered, which marked a 11.8 per cent reduction (of 1032 units) on the year prior. Conversely, light commercial vehicle sales were up significantly – a total of 4871 units were registered, which equated to a 29.0 per cent rise (or 1095 units) over February 2021.

In fact, the top spot for February 2022 went to the Pick Up/Chassis 4x4 segment with a 21 per cent share of the market followed by SUV Compact- (19%) and SUV Medium vehicles (16%).

As was the case in January, the Ford Ranger (1111 units), Toyota HiLux (890) and Mitsubishi Triton (855) dominated sales of the light commercial vehicle sector. Ford regained segment leadership in February with a 23 per cent share of the market, ahead of second-placed Toyota’s 22 per cent share, and Mitsubishi’s 18 per cent share.

In terms of year-to-date sales, the February increase pushes Ford’s Ranger to outright first position in the New Zealand market with a market share of 22 per cent. The Mitsubishi Triton ranks second overall with 21 per cent and the Toyota HiLux third with 15 per cent.

Mitsubishi also retained the lead of passenger and SUV registrations with a 14 per cent share (1044 units). Mitsubishi leads second-place Toyota with its 12 per cent (890 units) share of the passenger and SUV segment, and Kia, whose 10 per cent (750 units) result sees it take third place.

The top-selling passenger and SUV models for the month were the Mitsubishi Outlander (546 units), followed by the Tesla Model 3 (351 units) and the Suzuki Swift (290 units).

Electrified vehicle sales continued to grow in February, with a total of 689 battery-electric models, 388 plug-in hybrid vehicles, and 1020 hybrids registered. A further five heavy vehicle full battery electric vehicles were registered in February.

The top-selling EV models in February were the Tesla Model 3 (351 units) followed by the Hyundai Kona (54 units) and Kia Niro (35 units). Of the 388 plug-in hybrid electric vehicles registered in February, 228 were of the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross, 57 of the MG HS, and 25 of the Mitsubishi Outlander.

Meanwhile, hybrid sales favoured the Toyota RAV4 with 187 units sold, ahead of the Honda Jazz (143 units) and Toyota Yaris (126 units).

Top 10 sales by make (February 2022):

Top 10 passenger sales by model (February 2022):

Top 10 commercial sales by model (February 2022):