NZ sales: SUVs dominate again

THE Motor Industry Association of New Zealand (MIA) reports that new vehicle registrations were “steady” across May, with slight growth in SUV and LCV sales helping to offset the continued downward trend of passenger vehicle popularity.

According to MIA chief executive Aimee Wiley, registrations of new vehicles for the month of May tallied 13,354 units, or just 0.1 per cent (17 units) ahead of the same period last year, noting that registrations for that month were lower than usual owing to the introduction of the Clean Car Discount (CCD).

MIA figures show grouped passenger and SUV sales were down 9.5 per cent (1009 units) to 9566 units on May 2022, but that SUV models, including the Toyota RAV4 (860 units) and Mitsubishi Outlander (452 units), continued to dominate the sales ladder. The Suzuki Swift light hatch placed third for the month with 403 sales.

Eight out of 10 models to feature in the grouped passenger and SUV sales chart for the month of May were SUVs.

Segmentation bias favours the medium SUV (24 per cent) and compact SUV (20 per cent) categories ahead of 4x4 utes (16 per cent). Vehicles in the medium or smaller segments comprise 59 per cent of the total market.

On a brand-by-brand basis, Toyota retained the market lead for passenger and SUV registrations in May with a 19 per cent slice of the market (1785 units), followed by Mitsubishi’s 11 per cent (1098 units) and Hyundai with nine per cent (870 units).

Toyota retained overall market lead for the month of May with a 21 per cent share (2765 units), followed by Mitsubishi with 11 per cent (1459 units) and Ford with 10 per cent (1392 units).

In a positive sign for commercial vehicle sales, the MIA reports 3788 registrations for the month, up 37.1 per cent (1026 units). It is a trend that is likely to be continued next month as buyers race to beat further increases to CCD fees from July 1.

On a year-to-date basis, commercial vehicle sales remain down 23.5 per cent (5449 units) due to the impact of CCD fees on typically high-emitting LCV models.

For the month of May, Ford retained its lead in the light commercial vehicle segment with a 28 per cent share (1073 units). Toyota placed second with 26 per cent (980 units) and Mitsubishi third with 10 per cent (361 units).

The top light commercial models for the month of May were the Ford Ranger (983 units), followed by the Toyota Hilux (746 units) and the Mitsubishi Triton (360 units).

Heavy commercial vehicles notched up 612 registrations during the month of May.

Registrations of new energy vehicles in May – including battery electric (BEV), plug-in hybrid electric (PHEV) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) – remain strong with sales of 1219, 727 and 2534 units respectively.

There were 1171 light passenger, 46 light commercial, and two heavy commercial BEVs registered in May. The top models were the BYD Atto 3 (223 units) followed by the MG ZS (204 units) and Hyundai Ioniq 5 (120 units).

Of the 727 PHEVs registered in May, Mitsubishi came up trumps with its Eclipse Cross (285 units) and Outlander (180 units) topping the third-place Ford Escape (61 units) by a significant margin.

Registrations of regular hybrids (HEVs) remain strong, up 877 units on May last year. There were a total of 2534 HEVs registered across May, the top three models being the Toyota RAV4 (698 units), Honda Jazz (178 units) and Hyundai Tucson (175 units).

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

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

Top 10 sales by Model (May commercial):

Note: all figures are supplied courtesy of the Motor Industry Association of New Zealand.