NZ sales: Registrations dip in April

NEW Zealand’s new-vehicle sales experienced a rare dip in April with both light commercials and passenger cars/SUVs sliding, according to official figures released this week.

In April, 10,423 vehicles were sold in NZ, which represented a 2.0 per cent drop compared with April 2017, although year-to-date sales remain ahead of the first four months of last year by 1.4 per cent.

The 6848 passenger car and SUV registrations were 2.1 per cent off April 2017, while the 3575 light-commercial vehicles figure was down by 1.8 per cent.

NZ Motor Industry Association chief executive officer David Crawford said despite the April downturn, the NZ economy and other factors were helping to ensure strong new-vehicle sales.

“The market for new vehicles remains at historically high levels with registrations underpinned by a range of economic factors,” he said. “Net immigration, while reducing is still elevated based on long-term trends, new-vehicle prices remain competitive and the economy is stable.”

In terms of individual model sales, pick-ups made up four of the top five spots, with Ford’s Ranger the most popular model on 745 units, followed by the Toyota HiLux (457), Holden’s Colorado (306) in fourth and the Nissan Navara (268) in fifth.

Mazda’s CX-5 was the only non-LCV in the top five, coming in third with 317 sales, a 21 per cent hike over its April 2017 haul.

The Mitsubishi Triton (258) landed in sixth spot, followed by a resurgent Suzuki Swift (245) that was up by 82 per cent, then the Kia Sportage (220) and Isuzu D-Max (205), with the soon-to-be-discontinued Holden Captiva (199) rounding out the top 10.

That means out of the top 10 sellers, six were LCVs, three were SUVs and just one was a passenger car.

The Toyota Corolla, which was the overall top selling model in NZ in January with a massive 958 registrations, could only manage 12th last month with 170 sales.

Toyota is unlikely to be concerned about the Corolla’s performance, given the car-maker again led the market with 1310 sales and a 12.6 per cent market share.

Brand T held four spots in the top 10 best-selling rental vehicles list in April, including the LandCruiser Prado in first, HiLux in second, HiAce in fourth and Highlander (Kluger) in 10th.

Ford was second overall on 1115 and 10.7 per cent share, with the dominant Ranger retaining its position as the best-selling vehicle in NZ so far this year, edging out the HiLux by 397 units.

The strong showing by the CX-5, and the Mazda3, kept Mazda in third with 893 sales, but Holden wasn’t far behind on 852, followed by Mitsubishi rounding out the top five with 744 sales.

Nissan was next on 622 thanks to a solid showing from the Qashqai (186), Suzuki hit 543, Kia had 511 sales, Hyundai recorded 442 and Volkswagen had 380 registrations.

The 4x4 pick-up/cab chassis segment recorded the most sales in April with 15 per cent of the market, followed by medium SUVs on 14.5 per cent and compact SUVs on 14 per cent.

NZ top 10 makes April 2018

Brand	Sales	Share%
Toyota	1310	12.6
Ford	1115	10.7
Mazda	893	8.6
Holden	852	8.2
Mitsubishi	744	7.1
Nissan	622	6.0
Suzuki	543	5.2
Kia	511	4.9
Hyundai	442	4.2
Volkswagen	380	3.7