New Zealand June LV Sales Top 31-Year-Old Record

The New Zealand new-vehicle market posts one of its best first-half results with the strongest June on record, topping a mark that has stood for 31 years.

The Motor Industry Assn. says the month’s sales climbed 4.1% to 13,030 units, leaving deliveries after six months up 6% at 65,653.

The result topped the previous best for the month of 13,157 units set in 1984 and was not far short of the best result for any month of 13,983 set in July the same year.

Toyota continued its long reign as market leader with June sales of 2,942 units for a 23% market share. GM Holden was a distant second with 1,373 units, ahead of Ford with 1,277.

New-car sales rose 5.9% for the month to 8,517 units, led by Toyota (2,171 units), Holden (870) and Hyundai (773).

Boosted by rental-company purchases, the Toyota RAV4 (613 units) and Highlander (489) were June’s top-selling cars, ahead of Toyota’s Corolla (436).

Commercial-vehicle sales edged up by seven units in June to 4,009 units as Ford (811) displaced Toyota (771) at the top of the list.

Ford’s Ranger continued its run as New Zealand’s top-selling LCV with 729 deliveries during the month, ahead of the Holden Colorado (484 units) and Toyota Hilux (481).

In fact, the result made Ranger the country’s overall top-selling model for the month, followed by the RAV4 and Highlander.

First-half car sales rose 4.6% year-on-year to 46,380 units, while the CV segment climbed 7.7% to 19,273.

Toyota (11,700 units), Holden (6,946) and Ford (6,442) were the overall market leaders after six months, with the car segment topped by Toyota (7,734), GM Holden (5,056) and Mazda (4,114).

With the first half completed, the Ranger was New Zealand’s top-selling model with 3,035 units, ahead of the Toyota Hilux (2,581) and Corolla (2,399). Two more CV models completed the top five: the Nissan Navara (1,884) and Colorado (1,806).