NZ sales: New-vehicle market bounces back

NEW Zealand’s new-vehicle sales have bounced back after a misstep in June, with 12,324 vehicles sold last month – a 6.0 per cent increase over the corresponding month in 2017 and the second-best July on record.

 

As a result, the market’s year-to-date total has improved to 92,481 units, up 1.8 per cent and still on track for another annual sales record.

 

NZ Motor Industry Association (MIA) chief executive officer David Crawford said that this growth, albeit minor, is encouraging given that a couple of key issues are currently impacting the market.

 

“Despite there being several worrying signs the NZ economy is not as strong as it has been, combined with a significant drop in overall business confidence, new-vehicle sales have, for the time being, held steady” he said.

 

Sales of passenger cars and SUVs topped 8041 units (+5.7%) in July, while 4283 (+6.4%) light-commercial vehicles (LCVs) were registered.

 

LCVs claimed the first four positions on the list of best-selling models, which was led by the Ford Ranger (674 units, +2.9%), Toyota HiLux (658, +0.6%), Holden Colorado (408, +23.3%) and Mitsubishi Triton (363, +6.1%).

 

SUVs owned the next three spots, led by the Toyota RAV4 (336, +30.2%), Mazda CX-5 (314, +1.6%) and Kia Sportage (306, -7.3%), while the Mitsubishi ASX (271) assumed ninth place.

 

The Toyota Corolla (291, +9.8%) and Suzuki Swift (260) were the only passenger cars to feature on the top-10 best-sellers list, checking in at eighth and 10th position respectively.

 

The performance of the Corolla and RAV4 was helped by rental sales, with 178 and 154 vehicles sold respectively.

 

As such, these two models were the two best-selling rentals in July, edging out the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter (74), Nissan Qashqai (56) and Toyota Yaris (55).

 

Toyota continued its dominance in the NZ market last month, with its 2070 sales representing a 13.7 per cent increase over July 2017.

 

Ford took second spot with 1203 vehicles sold, up 1.1 per cent, while Mazda sales dipped 1.4 per cent, while still claiming third place, with 1003 examples finding homes.

 

Fourth-placed Mitsubishi (+3.4%) led Holden (+7.1%) by just 16 units, at 966 sales, while sixth-placed Nissan made 701 deliveries, up an impressive 15.1 per cent.

 

Suzuki (+6.8%) claimed seventh position over a significantly-improved Hyundai (+21.2%) by a mere two units, at 562 sales, while ninth-placed Kia (-2.5%) was only five more units behind.

 

Honda rounded out the top 10 with its July haul of 443 vehicles – a 5.1 per cent drop over the corresponding month last year and the largest dip on the brand ladder.

 

Volkswagen missed out on the top 10 by four units, while Subaru (362), Mercedes-Benz (325), Isuzu (230) and LDV (171) were further afield.

 

For the year to date, Toyota (16,038 units, 17.4% market share) has a commanding lead over Ford (9950, 10.8%), Holden (7360, 8.0%), Mazda (7188, 7.8%) and Mitsubishi (6879, 7.5%) in the sales race.

 

Mid-size SUVs were the most popular vehicles in July, with an 17.7 per cent market share, followed by pick-up/cab-chassis 4x4s (14.5%) and small SUVs (14.2%).

 

As previously reported, the NZ market was down 8.2 per cent in June, with end-of-financial-year sales failing to provide their usual handy bump. Nonetheless, it was still the second best June on record.

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