NZ vehicle sales make 2017 flyer

year. This was the strongest ever start to a new sales year, MIA chief executive David Crawford confirmed.

‘‘As 2017 gets under way, nothing has changed from the economic environment that existed for most of 2016,’’ Crawford said.

‘‘The key drivers to these high levels of new vehicle sales are the continued high levels of net immigration, low cost of debt and a strong national economy.’’

Passenger car and SUV registrations of 10,150 vehicles were up 14 per cent in January last year, and commercial vehicles – utes and vans – achieved an even more spectacular result with registrations up an impressive 23 per cent.

The Ford Ranger begins 2017 from where it left off last year as the best-selling vehicle with 741 registrations, followed by the Toyota Corolla with 590 registrations and the Toyota RAV4 with 556 units sold. The RAV4 was also the top selling rental vehicle of the month, with 418 registrations.

Reflecting recent trends, the medium-sized SUV segment accounted for 17 per cent of the market, followed by the small passenger segment on 13 per cent, and the large SUV segment on 12 per cent.

Overall, SUVs accounted for 40 per cent of January registrations,