Sales continue to streak ahead

SUPPLY CAN’T KEEP UP WITH DEMAND FOR SOME NEW VEHICLES, WRITES COLIN SMITH

Another record month for commercial vehicle registrations and strong sales of passenger models saw the New Zealand new vehicle market continuing to run at unprecedented levels last month.

In the first four months of 2017, new vehicle registrations are 13 per cent ahead of the same period last year and numbers may have been even higher but for supply constraints.

‘‘ Registration of 10,635 vehicles for the month of April confirms robust growth in the new vehicle sector which continues to perform above market expectations,’’ said David Crawford, chief executive officer of the Motor Industry Association ( MIA).

‘‘ Monthly registrations of 10,635 vehicles were the strongest month of April on record, and only the second time since the MIA began collecting data that the month of April has surpassed 10,000 units. The other time was way back in 1982.

‘‘ It could have been even greater if it were not for supply constraints faced by some distributors,’’ said Crawford.

‘‘ Year to date, the new vehicle sector is 13 per cent ( 5804 units) ahead of this 1 Ford Ranger, 698 2 Toyota Hilux, 571 3 Holden Colorado, 312 4 Mitsubishi Triton, 299 5 Mazda CX- 5, 264 6 Nissan Navara, 263 7 Kia Sportage, 250 8 Toyota RAV4, 237 9 Toyota Corolla, 211 10 Mitsubishi Outlander, 209 time last year with 50,059 vehicles registered compared to 44,210 to the end of April 2016.’’

Passenger car and SUV registrations of 6996 units were marginally up 3 per cent ( 207 units) compared to April 2016.

Commercial vehicle registrations of 3639 units for April represents 15.5 per cent ( 489 units) growth on April 2016. And it was the strongest month of April on record for the registration of new commercial vehicles.

Pick- up and chassis/ cab utes dominated the rankings of the most popular models during April, taking the top four places ahead of all passenger vehicles and SUVs.

The Ford Ranger was April’s bestselling vehicle model with 698 units followed by the Toyota Hilux in second with 571 units. Next were the Holden Colorado ( 312 units), Mitsubishi Triton ( 299 units) and Nissan Navara ( 263 units).

The passenger segment was dominated by SUV models with the Mazda CX- 5 ( 264 units), Kia Sportage ( 250 units) and Toyota RAV4 ( 237 units) ahead of the Toyota Corolla ( 211 units).

Toyota was the overall market leader in April gaining 17 per cent market share ( 1771 units), followed by Ford with 12 per cent ( 1267 units) and Holden with 8 per cent market share ( 865 units).

Toyota was also the market leader for passenger and SUV registrations with 14 per cent market share ( 961 units) followed by Mazda with 10 per cent ( 710 units) and Hyundai with 8 per cent market share ( 562 units).

In the commercial sector, Toyota was the April market leader with 22 per cent ( 810 units). It was followed by Ford with 21 per cent ( 768 units) and Holden a distant third with 9 per cent market share ( 322 units).

Year to date, New Zealand’s top three selling models are Ford Ranger with 2912 units followed by the Toyota Hilux with 2289 units and the Toyota Corolla with 1546 units.

The rankings of utes and SUVs were also reflected in the market segmentation for April.

The most popular category was Medium SUVs which accounted for 16 per cent ( 1743 units) of all vehicle sales in April followed by Pick Up/ Chassis Cab 4x4 Utes with 15 per cent ( 1560 units). SUV Large with 12 per cent ( 1251 units), SUV Compact with 12 per cent ( 1247 units) and the Pick Up/ Chassis Cab 4x2 models on 10 per cent ( 1,112 units).

Traditionally strong segments such as Medium Car and Large Car now account for 4 per cent and 2 per cent of vehicle sales respectively. Large SUV models are now out- selling Large Cars at the rate of nearly six- to- one.

The luxury car segment was closely contested during April with MercedesBenz the leader with 175 registrations ahead of BMWon 147 and Audi 134. Year to date, Mercedes- Benz leads with 895 units from BMW( 701) and Audi ( 666).