NZ Sales: May sales mayday

NEW ZEALAND new car sales for May have declined for a fifth consecutive month with just 10,186 vehicles sold across the period.

Unfortunately for the industry, it is a trend that looks set to continue with the New Zealand treasury saying economic conditions are expected to remain subdued in the near term as the economy “continues to rebalance from a period of strong demand, tight supply, and historically high inflation”.

New Zealand’s GDP is forecast to contract a further 0.2 per cent to the end of June, likely seeing another soft month ahead for new car sales.

The Motor Industry Association (MIA) of New Zealand says the “relentless” dip in new vehicle registrations perpetuates a trend of ongoing decline that hits hardest at passenger and SUV segments (6369 unit sales, down 33.4 per cent).

Modest gains were seen in the heavy commercial vehicle segment (663 units) while light commercial vehicle sales remain steady (at 3154 units).

The May figures represent a 23.7 per cent decline on those achieved in the same month last year and a 23.6 per cent fall on May 2022. Year-to-date numbers show a 13.3 per cent recession on those numbers achieved in 2023 and 23.8 per cent on those for 2022.

Of the vehicles that were sold in May, we find Toyota leading the market with a 23.3 per cent share (2375 units) ahead for Ford with 14.4 per cent (1464 units), and Mitsubishi with 10.8 per cent (1104 units).

Passenger vehicle sales favoured Medium SUV (2132), Compact SUV (2089), and Large SUV (763) models, with the Toyota RAV4 taking out top place (761). The Mitsubishi ASX placed second (328) ahead of the Suzuki Swift (246).

Top selling light commercial models include the Ford Ranger (1067), Toyota HiLux (709) and Mitsubishi Triton (444).

Splitting the month’s sales by motive power type we find most New Zealand’s sales to remain petrol and diesel powered (7415 units or 72.8 per cent). Mild hybrid vehicles ranked second (2150 units / 21.1 per cent) ahead of battery electric vehicles (444 units / 4.4 per cent) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (177 / 1.7 per cent).

Leading the hybrid vehicle segment is the Toyota RAV4 (760 units). The battery electric vehicle segment is led by the Tesla Model Y (44) and the plug-in hybrid vehicle segment by the Mitsubishi Outlander (23).

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):

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