New Zealand March LV Sales Roar at Record Volume

New Zealand’s new-vehicle market continued to soar in March, with sales rising 3% year-on-year to 12,110 units, the best result for that month since 1984.

The month saw car sales edge up 1.4% to 8,191 units for the strongest March result since 1989. Commercial-vehicle deliveries climbed 6.5% to a record 3,919 units.

“Strong net immigration, competitive pricing and end-of-financial-year deals drove strong new-vehicle registrations in March,” Motor Industry Assn. CEO David Crawford says in a statement. “March continued the overall strong performance of the new vehicle sector over the last three years.”

Toyota was the overall market leader in March with 1,850 sales, followed by Ford (1,261 units) and Mitsubishi (1,029).

For a second month in a row, the month’s three best-selling models were light CVs: Ford Ranger (661 units), Toyota Hilux (601) and Mitsubishi Triton (462).

Toyota topped the March passenger segment with 999 deliveries, followed by Mazda (816) and Hyundai (731). The Suzuki Swift was the leading individual model with 304 units, followed by the Toyota Corolla (302) and Mazda CX-5 (242).

Toyota regained top spot in the CV segment with 851 sales, ahead of Ford (752) and Mitsubishi (462).

The first quarter saw new-vehicle sales up 3% to 34,284 units with the car segment accounting for 24,253 and the CV market 10,031. Toyota led the market with 5,650 units for a 16% market share, ahead of Ford (3,971) and GM Holden (3,027).

The car segment saw Toyota with 3,686 units, ahead of Mazda’s 2,388 and GM Holden’s 2,216 units.

Ford led the CV segment after three months with 2,113 deliveries, dislodging Toyota (1,964) and Mitsubishi (942). Year-to-date, the Ranger (1,904 units) held a healthy lead over the Hilux (1,345).