New Zealand Sales Continue to Surprise

The New Zealand new-vehicle market continued its unprecedented year, setting yet another monthly record in October.

The Motor Industry Assn. says the October result rose 5.0% year-on-year to 12,684 units, taking the year-to-date total up 5.5% to 112,217.

The performance is even surprising the industry.

“The new-vehicle market continues to perform beyond expectations,” MIA CEO David Crawford says in a statement.

“Registrations of new vehicles has averaged a staggering 11,237 a month year to date, and if this pace continues the industry will smash last year’s record sales of 127,352 new vehicles by about 7,000 units.”

Toyota remained the industry leader in October, delivering 3,324 units for a 26% market share. GM Holden followed with 1,305 vehicles, ahead of Ford on 1,225.

New passenger-vehicle sales rose 8% in October to a record 9,636.

Toyota took a 28% share of the segment with 2,741 units, helped by strong sales of 1,057 rental vehicles. Holden followed with 992 units, ahead of Mazda with 907.

Thanks to those rental sales, Toyota had the top four passenger models in October, with the Corolla leading the list on 1,334 units, followed by the Highlander (428), Yaris (378) and RAV4 (362).

New commercial-vehicle sales of 3,048 units in October were down 65 units year-on-year. Ford took 21% of the segment with 631 units, ahead of Toyota (583) and Holden (313).

The Ford Ranger remained the monthly top-selling commercial vehicle with 561 deliveries, comfortably ahead of the Toyota Hilux (364) and Holden Colorado (296).

Crawford says SUVs remain the dominant vehicle segment with 34% market share both in October and year-to-date. The small-passenger-vehicle segment followed with a 20% share for the month and 15% for the year thus far. The pickup/chassis cab sector took 17% in October, but with 21% year-to-date remains the overall second-strongest segment.