NZ sales impacted by struggling economy

AFTER recording its strongest May for passenger-car sales this year, New Zealand’s new-vehicle market weakened in June, when registrations of new vehicles slumped by 20.4 per cent compared with the corresponding month of 2021.  

New Zealand’s new-vehicle market was feeling the impact of the rising cost of living, high fuel prices, continued vehicle supply constraints and a weakening economy, the Motor Industry Association’s principal technical advisor, Mark Stockdale, said.

Total new-vehicle registrations (12,049) were down 3086 units compared with June last year and the 2022 market was 2595 units (3.1 per cent) lower than during the first six months of 2021. 

Registrations of new passenger cars and SUVs (9563) were down 743 units (7.2 per cent) on the corresponding month last year, while commercial vehicle sales (2486) fell by an alarming 2343 units (48.5 per cent) compared to June 2021.

At least sales of heavy vehicles remained steady, with 575 units for the month. 

Mr Stockdale said the market was likely to remain subdued in coming months because of the effect of clean car taxes. 

Toyota retained the overall new-vehicle market leader with an 18 per cent market share (2209 units), followed by Mitsubishi with 17 per cent (2006 units) and Kia with 12 per cent (1408 units). 

Year to date, however, Mitsubishi retained a slim lead with 17 per cent (13,768 units), followed by Toyota with 16 per cent (12,911 units) and Ford, with 8 per cent (6562 units). 

The top three models for the month of June were the Mitsubishi Outlander (903 units), followed by the Toyota Hilux (771 units) and the Kia Sportage (661 units). 

Mitsubishi led passenger and SUV registrations with 19 per cent market share (1,827 units) followed by Kia with 15 per cent (1408 units) and Toyota with 13 per cent (1285 units). 

The top-selling passenger and SUV models for the month were the Mitsubishi Outlander (903 units), followed by the Kia Sportage (661 units) and Mitsubishi ASX (435 units).

In terms of BEV, PHEV and hybrid new-vehicle sales, 558 all-electric units were registered in June. The top-selling models were the Hyundai Kona (152 units), followed by the Polestar 2 (103 units) and Kia EV6 (65 units). 

Registrations of plug-in hybrids were steady (759 units) – the top-selling models were the Mitsubishi Outlander (273 units), Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross (205 units) and MG HS (65 units). 

Meanwhile, 1166 hybrid were registered; the Toyota RAV4 (227 units) led the charge, followed by its siblings, the Corolla (180 units) and Highlander (156 units). 

In a progressively weaker market for light commercial vehicles, Toyota topped the sector with a 37 per cent market share (924 units), followed by Ford with 12 per cent (287 units) and Mitsubishi with 7 per cent (179 units).

The Toyota HiLux was the bestselling commercial model with a 31 per cent share (771 units), followed by the Ford Ranger with 9 per cent (225 units) and Toyota Hiace with 5 per cent (122 units). 

The Ford Ranger with 19 per cent (4895 units) led the market year to date, followed by the HiLux (also on 19 per cent, with 4786 units) and the Mitsubishi Triton with 17 per cent (4461 units).

The small to medium segments accounted for 67 per cent of new-vehicle registrations in New Zealand last month and 57 per cent of the country’s market year to date. 

The tops spots were the SUV medium segment with 26 per cent share, followed by compact SUVs (also with 22  per cent) and large SUVs (12 per cent).

Top 10 sales by make (June 2022):

Top 10 passenger sales by model (June 2022):

Top 10 commercial sales by model (June 2022):