Utes rule the roost
It’s likely to come as little surprise but the trend continues for utility vehicles to lead the way on New Zealand’s sales charts. In fact, mid-way through 2018, utes take up four of the top five spots in new vehicle registration numbers.
The Motor Industry Association (MIA) revealed that, as of the end of June, the Ford Ranger retained its 2017 crown of top-selling new model in New Zealand, shifting 5170 utes — up
4 per cent on the same time last year.
With nearly one in every five commercial registrations a Ranger, Ford has a commanding lead over the next most popular vehicle, the Toyota Hilux with
3934 registrations so far this year — a slight drop of 3 per cent. In the bronze medal position, the Holden Colorado remained steady with 2 per cent growth with 2442 registrations.
Also holding its 2016 position as the top-selling passenger vehicle is the Toyota Corolla with 2326 registrations, although 40 per cent of these have been sold for the purpose of rental. Rounding out the top five is yet another commercial vehicle, the Mitsubishi Triton, with 2073 new vehicles registered so far this year.
Toyota as usual, leads the combined sales charge with 17 per cent market share thanks to five of the Japanese manufacturer’s models appearing in the top 15 list, all of which are 5-star Ancaprated vehicles.
Although it sounds as though nearly every New Zealander owns a nice new ute, the most popular segment remains in the hands of the medium-sized SUV.
The strong result was helped by the usual players: the Toyota Rav
4 (2068), Mazda CX-5 (1902) and the Kia Sportage (1630).
But it’s not just medium SUVs leading the way. Compact SUVs have seen a 22 per cent increase in sales year on year, contributing to a 13 per cent share of the total fleet.
New Electric Vehicle (EV) registrations continue to soar up
112 per cent from this time last year to 371 registrations — the main contributor being the Hyundai Ioniq.
This now brings New Zealand’s EV fleet to 8696 vehicles, already hitting the government’s end of year target of 8000.
With the new regional fuel tax making its mark, we’re sure to see continued growth of low-emission vehicles.