NZ Sales: October shows improvement

NEW vehicle sales in New Zealand during October show an uptick in volumes over previous months but are notably lower than numbers achieved in the same month in recent years.

The October result of 12,944 units is the strongest month since the 1 July Clean Car Discount rate changes, which involved the introduction of a special rebate for new and used low emission disability vehicles, and for new vehicles, a decrease in the maximum rebate and an increase in the maximum fee.

According to Aimee Wiley, the chief executive of New Zealand’s Motor Industry Association, new vehicle registrations are beginning to show signs of improvement but remain soft compared to prior years.

October registrations are 12.2 per cent lower than October 2022 (14,736 units) and 7.7 per cent lower than October 2021 (14,019 units). On a year-to-date basis, 2023 is 9.1 per cent lower than 2022 (12,535 units) and 8.8 per cent lower than 2021 (12,062 units).

Passenger sales saw the Toyota RAV4 lead the charts (1103 units), followed by the Mitsubishi Outlander (529 units), and the Toyota Corolla Cross (368 units).

Meanwhile, of the light commercial vehicles, the sales leader was again the Ford Ranger (794 units) followed by Toyota HiLux (679 units) and third place went to the Toyota HiAce (160 units).

The segments most popular with the New Zealand new-vehicle buyer in October were SUV Medium (29.5 per cent), SUV Compact (20.1 per cent) while in third place with 10.5 per cent share was the Small segment, replacing last month’s 4x4 Pick-Up/Cab-Chassis segment.

Of the battery electric vehicles (BEVs), the top three models in October: MG 4 (357 units), followed by BYD Atto 3 (246 units) and Nissan Leaf (165 units).

As for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), the top three model sales achievers for the month of October were Mitsubishi Outlander (235 units), followed by Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross (195 units) and Kia Sorento (165 units).

As for the non-plug-in hybrid vehicles (HEVs), the top three models in October were the Toyota RAV4 (416 units), followed by Toyota Corolla Cross (368 units) and Toyota Yaris Cross (319 units).

As for commercial registrations, at 2890 units, they are 27.1 per cent lower than October 2022 (1075 units). On a year-to-date basis registrations are 15.7 per cent lower (6387 units) compared to the same period in 2022.

In the commercial space, Toyota took the market lead with 29.8 per cent market share (860 units) followed by Ford with 28.5 per cent (825 units) and Mercedes-Benz third with 4.8 per cent (139 units).

Battery electric vehicles are still selling in relatively small numbers in the Light Commercial segment, with 49 units sold in October and 276 units year-to-date. As for Heavy Commercial BEVs, just four were sold in October, with 101 year-to-date.

Top 10 sales by Make (October passenger, SUV and commercial):

Top 10 sales by Model (October passenger and SUV):

Top 10 sales by Model (October commercial):

*All figures are supplied courtesy of the Motor Industry Association of New Zealand.