Who’s going to take NZ’s big-seller title?
Hey bro! Want to bet what New Zealand’s most popular new vehicle will be this year?
You can’t officially place such a bet here – but in Aussie, where punters would probably bet on two flies walking up the wall of a pub, wagering has begun on what the top vehicle across the ditch will be.
Online bookmaker sportsbet.com.au is offering odds of $4.20 that the Toyota Hilux ute will be Australia’s most sold new vehicle in 2018, with the Toyota Corolla passenger car and the Ford Ranger ute equal second favourites, priced at $4.50.
Next up is the Mazda3 which is priced at $7.50, and a roughie that might have plenty of Aussie potential is the new German-built Holden Commodore, which is due to be launched soon on both sides of the Tasman, which is priced at $10.
Then in order of favouritism there’s the Mazda CX-5 ($12), Hyundai i30 ($14), Toyota RAV4 ($18), Hyundai Tucson ($21), Mitsubishi ASX ($26), Hyundai Accent ($36), and New Zealand’s Car of the Year the Skoda Kodiaq ($41).
The online bookie is anticipating plenty of public interest in how the new Commodore will fare this year, so it is offering some rather attractive odds on its potential placing further down the ‘‘most sold’’ field this year.
It’s pricing the car at $9 for second place, $8 for third, $6.50 for fourth or fifth, $2.50 for sixth to 10th, and $2 for 11th or more.
‘‘The Commodore was once one of the most popular family cars in Australia,’’ says sportsbet.com.au’s Will Byrne.
‘‘It remains to be seen whether it will reach those heights again – but at least Ford fans can bring out the old ‘Dunny Door and Bomb-a-dore’ barbs again,’’ he adds.
The online odds largely reflect what were the most popular vehicles in Australia last year. Hilux came out on top, followed in order by the Ranger, Corolla, Mazda3, i30, and CX-5. And what about New Zealand? Over here our TAB isn’t allowed to accept betting on such things as new vehicle sales or even what the name of the prime minister’s baby will be – it is restricted by legislation to accept bets only on racing and sports.
But if we were allowed to bet on new vehicle popularity, it’s already obvious that 2018 will be a three horse (or is that vehicle) race.
Last year the Ranger ute crossed the finish line for an easy first with 9420 sales, followed by the Hilux on 8106 and the Corolla on 7797.
But in the opening month of this year it is the Corolla that has jumped out of the starting gates the fastest, with 958 sales in January to lead from Ranger (713) and Hilux (636).
Will the car maintain that lead? Or will the utes catch up? And what about Commodore – will there be high public acceptance of this radically different European version of what was traditionally an allAussie car?
One thing you can bet on – it’s all going to make for a fascinating vehicle sales year.