Record August for registrations

WELLINGTON: New vehicle registrations have had their biggest August on record as EVs hit heady new highs.

The latest Motor Industry Association figures show registrations for new vehicles totalled 14,690 last month, the strongest month of August on record, largely due to shipments arriving allowing back orders to be filled.

August was also noticeably a strong month for registrations of pure electric vehicles, with 2560 units going to new owners.

The Motor Industry Association’s David Crawford said registrations across the board were up 117% on the same Covidimpacted month last year — bucking a recent softening trend in the market.

Yeartodate the market had recovered to be slightly ahead of this time last year, up 1.3%.

He said the biggest increases were seen in cars and SUVs, with registrations up 138% on August last year.

‘‘It’s the strongest month of August on record,’’ Mr Crawford said.

‘‘There were a number of shipments of vehicles that have come in that helped boost that so back orders were filled.’’

The outlook for the new car market is expected to be more turbulent due to economic forces at play, although he said supply chain disruptions had eased.

Pure battery EVs accounted for almost 8% of the market, while hybrids now covered almost one quarter of sales, Mr Crawford said.

The most popular models for the green consumer were the Tesla Model 3 as 745 were registered last month, and the Tesla Model Y which had 581 added to the books.

Chinese EV maker’s BYD Alto 3 was also starting to make its presence felt on our roads — 448 registered last month.

A trend has emerged that consumers are shying away from the previously highselling diesel and petrolpowered utes because there are limited electric options, Mr Crawford said.

Some of these consumers are looking at electric SUVs instead, he said. — RNZ