12,944 new vehicles have been registered in New Zealand in October 2023 according to the latest date from the Motor Industry Association (MIA).
“New vehicle registrations are beginning to show signs of improvement but remain soft compared to prior years,” says MIA Chief Executive Aimee Wiley.
“The October result of 12,944 units is the strongest month since the 1 July Clean Car Discount rate changes,” she adds.
However, October registrations remain 12.2% lower than October 2022 (14,736 units) and 7.7% lower than October 2021 (14,019 units). On a year-to-date basis, 2023 is 9.1% lower than 2022 (12,535 units) and 8.8% lower than 2021 (12,062 units).
New Zealand New Car Market Stats
Light passenger registrations of 10,054 are 6.7% (717 units) lower than in October 2022 despite a spike in rental vehicle registrations of 3,693 units or 36.7% of registrations in October. On a year-to-date basis, light passenger registrations are down 6.4% (6,148 units) compared to the same period in 2022.
Leading the light passenger market are Toyota with 2,683 units sold (26.7% market share), Kia with 1,125 units (11.2%), and Mitsubishi with 987 units (9.8%). Meanwhile, the top-selling models in this market are the Toyota RAV4, (1,103 units), Mitsubishi Outlander (529 units), and the Toyota Corolla Cross (368 units).
In October, among battery electric vehicles (BEVs), the leading models included the MG 4 with 357 units sold, followed closely by the BYD Atto 3 with 246 units and the Nissan Leaf with 165 units.
Turning to plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), the top three performers in October were the Mitsubishi Outlander with 235 units sold, followed by the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross with 195 units and the Kia Sorento with 165 units.
When it comes to non-plug-in hybrid vehicles (HEVs) for October, the top three models were the Toyota RAV4, which saw 416 units sold, followed by the Toyota Corolla Cross with 368 units and the Toyota Yaris Cross with 319 units.
Regarding commercial registrations, there were 2,890 units registered in October, reflecting a 27.1% decrease compared to October 2022 when 1,075 units were registered. On a year-to-date basis, registrations were 15.7% lower, totaling 6,387 units compared to the same period in 2022.
In the commercial sector, Toyota led the market with a 29.8% market share, representing 860 units, followed by Ford with 28.5% (825 units), and Mercedes-Benz in third place with a 4.8% share (139 units).
Battery electric vehicles continued to make modest sales in the Light Commercial segment, with 49 units sold in October and a total of 276 units year-to-date. In the Heavy Commercial segment, BEVs saw only four units sold in October, bringing the year-to-date total to 101 units.
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