NZ sales: Annual record draws closer

BY JUSTIN HILLIARD | 5th Dec 2018


NEW Zealand’s new-vehicle market remains on track for a fifth consecutive annual sales record with just one month left to go in 2018, with 150,620 registrations made during the year to date representing a 1.4 per cent uptick.
 
As a result, NZ Motor Industry Association (MIA) chief executive officer David Crawford remained upbeat about the year-to-date sales, despite the slow growth.
 
“While growth in the new-vehicle market remains only marginally up on 2017, the outturn year to date is encouraging,” he said.
 
The 14,359 vehicles sold in November represented a 1.6 per cent drop over the corresponding, record month in 2017. As such, it was the second-best tally yet for the 11th month of the year.
 
Sales of passenger cars and SUVs slid by 7.3 per cent in November, to 9543 units, while light-commercial vehicles (LCVs) improved their volume, up 11.9 per cent to 4816 units.
 
With a market share of 16.2 per cent, mid-size SUVs were the most popular vehicles last month, followed by pick-up/cab-chassis 4x4s (15.7%) and small SUVs (12.6%).
 
Despite a 4.0 per cent dip in volume, Toyota led from the front in November, claiming a 21.6 per cent market share with 3099 sales.
 
The HiLux ute (741, +19.5%), Corolla small car (739, -9.2%) and RAV4 mid-size SUV (512, -21.0%) claimed second, third and fourth positions respectively on the best-sellers ladder, while the 10th-placed Highlander/Kluger large SUV (273, -38.7%) and 11th-placed HiAce mid-size van (261) were also in the conversation.
 
Strong rental sales contributed towards a significant portion of the HiLux (126 units), Corolla (413), RAV4 (388), Highlander/Kluger (203) and HiAce’s (83) volumes. The Yaris light car (125) and LandCruiser Prado (80) were also popular among hire-car companies.
 
A declining Ford (1437 units, -7.1%) finished in second position on the back of its Ranger ute (994, +13.7%), which was the best-selling model in the market, helped by 111 rental sales.
 
Similarly, Holden backtracked (1397 units, -6.2%) but held onto third position, with its sixth-placed Colorado ute (427, +26.0%) and 15th-placed Captiva mid-size SUV (198, -3.0%) shouldering the load.
 
An improving Mitsubishi (1114 units, +6.2%) made some noise in fourth position, owing to a strong showing from its fifth-placed Triton ute (487, +37.2%) and the 14th-placed ASX small SUV (247).
 
Fifth-placed Hyundai put in the most impressive effort among the top brands, with its sales up 36.4 per cent, to 921 units. Its Accent light car was the ninth best-selling model with 274 sales, of which 265 came from rental companies.
 
Mazda (910 units, -16.7%) claimed sixth position and recorded the top 10’s largest drop in volume, with its CX-5 mid-size SUV (251, -35.8%) responsible for the vast majority of this shrinkage.
 
Seventh-placed Nissan (694 units, +9.6%) was a solid performer, mainly thanks to its Navara ute (286) finishing in seventh position, while Kia (592, +21.1%) and its Sportage mid-size SUV (282, +31.2%) were one step behind in both regards.
 
Ninth-placed Suzuki (509, +4.1%) and 10th-placed Volkswagen (489, +14.3%) rounded out the top-10 brands, with the former’s Swift light hatch finishing in 12th position with 258 sales (+31.6%).
 
In the year-to-date sales races, Toyota (29,361 units) and Ford’s Ranger (9300) comfortably lead their rivals in the brand and model stakes respectively.

 

NZ top 10 makes November 2018

Ranking Brand Sales Share%
1 Toyota 3099 21.6
2 Ford 1437 10.0
3 Holden 1397 9.7
4 Mitsubishi 1114 7.8
5 Hyundai 921 6.4
6 Mazda 910 6.3
7 Nissan 694 4.8
8 Kia 592 4.1
9 Suzuki 509 3.5
10 Volkswagen 489 3.4

Read more

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NZ sales: Market softens in September
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NZ sales: New-vehicle market bounces back
NZ sales: Sales dip during EOFY month
NZ sales: YTD haul tops 2016 total
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