New vehicles sales racing towards record
New vehicle sales are continuing at breakneck speed in New Zealand, with August registration figures the highest in more than three decades.
The statistics for August show there were 12,677 registrations, up 13.3 per cent on August last year - and the highest since 1984.
And year-to-date the market is up 7 per cent on 2015, and heading for a record year which may see sales pass 140,000 for the first time.
‘‘An already record year to date for new vehicle registrations just got stronger,’’ Motor Industry Association chief executive officer David Crawford said.
‘‘Economic indicators remain the same as for recent months, with the strongest net immigration on record, a healthy tourism sector and a generally robust economy, all of which continues to drive sales of new vehicles year to date beyond that expected for 2016.’’
SUVs remain massively popular vehicles, accounting for 38 per cent of new registrations during the month, followed by passenger cars segments with 32 per cent and the light commercial segments with a 25 per cent share.
August saw 8896 passenger and SUV registrations, and 3781 commercial vehicle registrations.
Toyota was the overall market leader with 2281 sales for an 18 per cent share, with Ford second on 12 per cent (1463 sales) and Holden third with 8 per cent (1051 units).
Toyota also held an easy lead in the passenger car and SUV seg- ment with a 17 per cent share, well ahead of Mazda and Holden on 9 per cent each. But Ford held the lead in the commercial vehicle market with a 23 per cent share, followed by Toyota on 20 per cent and Holden on 7 per cent. Toyota Corolla was the top-selling indi- vidual passenger model with 535 sales for a 6 per cent share, followed by the Kia Sportage with 295 sales and the Toyota Yaris on 289 sales.
Ford Ranger ute was the topselling commercial vehicle - and top seller overall - with 721 sales for a 19 per cent share, followed by Toyota Hilux with 486 sales and Nissan Navara ith 273 sales.
MOST POPULAR NUMBER OF CAR SALES FOR AUGUST: Ford Ranger Toyota Corolla
721 535 270 486 295 289 273
Toyota Hilux Kia Sportage Toyota Yaris Nissan Navara Mazda3 Toyota RAV4 Holden Colorado Mazda CX-5
268 255 266