New Zealand Light-Vehicle Sales Stay on Record Pace

New Zealand’s new-vehicle market is racing toward its second straight annual sales record.

Motor Industry Assn. CEO David Crawford says the 11-month total, up 5.3% at 123,816 units, already is the second-highest for any year, eclipsing the previous second-highest annual total of 123,247 set in 1984.

The industry needs only 3,363 deliveries to overtake last year’s record of 127,179 units.

“The total for 2015 will break through 130,000 units for the first time by some margin,” Crawford says in a statement.

The November result rose 4.0% to a record 11,620 units with Toyota claiming 2,613 deliveries for a 22% market share. GM Holden followed with 1,288 sales, ahead of Ford with 1,261.

New-car sales rose 0.6% for the month to a record 8,115 units with Toyota delivering 1,712, ahead of GM Holden (998) and Mazda (737). Toyota had the two top-selling passenger models for the month, the Corolla (652) and Highlander (295). The Holden Captiva (291) and Mazda CX-5 (241) followed.

New commercial-vehicle deliveries rose 12.6% in November to 3,505 units, with Toyota’s 901 leading Ford (769) and GM Holden (290). The Ford Ranger was the top-selling CV with 690 units, followed by the Toyota Hilux (683) and Holden Colorado (269).

With 11-month car sales up 10.7% at 87,868 units, Toyota (16,343), Holden (9,474) and Mazda (8,112) were the market leaders.

CV year-to-date sales were up 6.1% to 35,948 units with Ford Ranger (6,213 units), Toyota Hilux (5,204) and Holden Colorado (3,274).leading the way.

Year-to-date, Toyota (24,103), GM Holden (12,919), Ford (12,621), Mazda (9,395) and Hyundai (7,883) were the leading car sellers. The top-selling models were the Ranger (6,213), Corolla (6,049) and Hilux (5,204).