New-Vehicle Market Moves Counter to Economy in New Zealand

New Zealand vehicle buyers continue to ignore the country’s economic situation, pushing sales up 5% to a September record 12,474 units.

Motor Industry Assn. CEO David Crawford says the new-vehicle market is continuing to flout general economic indicators.

“If registration of new vehicles continues at the pace it has done for the first nine months of the year, the industry will easily break the 130,000-unit barrier in 2015 for the first time ever,” Crawford says in a statement.

The spectacular September saw year-to-date sales rise 5% to 99,557 units.

Toyota remained the overall market leader for the month with 2,318 units, for a 19% share. Ford followed with 1,449 units (12%) and GM Holden claimed third place with 1,402 units (11%).

Year to date, Toyota (18,169), GM Holden (10,331), Ford (10,147), Mazda (7,521) and Hyundai (6,514) were the top five overall market leaders.

New passenger-vehicle sales rose 5.4% year-on-year for the month to 8,835 units, marking the strongest September since 1987. Toyota was the market leader with 1,471 units, ahead of GM Holden (1,068 units) and Mazda (891 units).

Year-to-date, Toyota (11,892), GM Holden (7,487) and Mazda (6,471) lead the passenger-vehicle segment.

The Toyota Corolla was the top-selling passenger model for the month with 687 units, ahead of the Holden Commodore (362) and Mazda3 (244).

Commercial-vehicle sales climbed 5.2% in September to 3,639 units for a 9-month total up 6.3% at 2,943 units.

Toyota led the September result with 847 units, just ahead of Ford (831) and GM Holden (334).

The Ford Ranger topped the CV segment with 743 units, followed by the Toyota Hilux (589) and Holden Colorado (320). Year-to-date, Ranger is the segment leader with 4,967 units, ahead of Hilux (4,158) and Colorado (2,711).

The result made Ranger the top model overall for the month, ahead of the Toyota Corolla and Hilux.

Crawford says SUVs were the dominant segment, recording a 33% market share for both the month and year-to-date. The pickup/chassis cab sector followed with 20% for the month and 21% for the year.