NZ Sales: November slips a gear

NEW ZEALAND’s new-car sales hit the skids in November, the nation’s Motor Industry Association (MIA) reporting 15,621 registrations for the month, a fall of 4.3 per cent compared with the same period of 2021.

Year-to-date the Kiwi market is down 0.2 per cent on the first eleven months of 2021.

The MIA said registrations of 11,175 passenger cars and SUVs were down 0.3 per cent (39 units) against November 2021 but ahead of 2021 year-to-date figures by 3.2 per cent (up 3358 units).

However, registrations of new commercial vehicles are down by 13.0 per cent (667 vehicles) on November last year, with YTD sales of commercial vehicles likewise down to the tune of 7.4 per cent (3589 units) on the first eleven months of 2021.

According to the MIA, supply chain challenges coupled with the effects of the Clean Car Discount introduced on April 1 – and the incoming Clean Car Standard that commences on January 1 – have seen a move away from the sale of new light commercial vehicles.

The main reason for this is that popular dual-cab utes typically have the high fuel consumption and exhaust emissions characteristics the NZ government is trying to discourage.

Light commercial vehicle sales see Ford retain top place in NZ for November with a 35 per cent share of the segment (1572 units) ahead of Toyota’s 24 per cent (1055 units) and Mitsubishi’s seven per cent (333 units).

The Ford Ranger took top spot on the sales board for the month of November, selling 1527 units, followed by the Toyota HiLux with 925 units and Mitsubishi Triton on 313 units.

Year-to-date market share shows the Ford Ranger retaining its lead of the segment with 23 per cent and 10,465 units over the Toyota HiLux’s 20 per cent and 9178 units, and Mitsubishi’s Triton securing 13 per cent with 5858 units.

The 4x4 ute segment is New Zealand’s third most-popular (16 per cent), behind medium SUVs (28 per cent) and compact SUVs (19 per cent).

For passenger vehicle and SUV sales, Toyota was ahead for the month of November with a 15 per cent slice of the market (1654 units), ahead of Tesla’s 12 per cent (1365 units) and Mitsubishi, also on 12 per cent (1306 units).

Mitsubishi narrowly retains the most market share for passenger and SUV year-to-date sales with a 15 per cent slice of the action (16,276 units) ahead of Toyota (also with 15 per cent and 15,803 units) and Kia (with 10 per cent and 11,007 units).

Top-selling passenger and SUV models for the month of November were the Tesla Model Y (1099 units), Mitsubishi Outlander (599 units), and the Toyota RAV4 (572 units).

Sales of new energy vehicles – including battery electric, plug-in hybrid electric, and petrol-electric hybrid models – continue to perform well across the ditch. In November, 2553 battery electric light vehicles and 23 battery electric heavy vehicles were registered.

Top sellers include the Tesla Model Y (1099 units), BYD Atto 3 (475 units) and Tesla Model 3 (266 units). Year-to-date there have been 13,469 battery electric passenger and SUV models sold compared with 5586 units for the same period in 2021.

A total of 542 plug-in hybrid vehicles were sold for the month of November, including 202 examples of the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross PHEV, 164 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEVs (pictured), and 42 MG HS variants.

But it is petrol-electric hybrid models that proved the most popular new energy vehicles in New Zealand.

A total of 1704 hybrid vehicles were registered in the month of November with the top selling models including the Toyota RAV4 (380 units), Honda Jazz (189 units) and Toyota Corolla Cross (160 units).

Top 10 sales by make (November, passenger, SUV and commercial):

Top 10 sales by model (November, passenger and SUV):

Top 10 sales by model (November, commercial):