Fuel prices bring downsizing

September registration figures reveal a slight softening of the record run by the New Zealand new vehicle market.

Total new vehicle registrations of 13,910 units in September were down 4.0 per cent (597 units) on the September 2017 volume. However, the result still ranks as the second-highest September vehicle market on record.

“Year-to-date, the market is up by 1.0 per cent (1161 units) compared to the first nine months of 2017,” said David Crawford, chief executive officer of the Motor Industry Association.

“Registrations of 9432 passenger and SUV vehicles for the month of September were down 423 units on September 2017, a decrease of 4.3 per cent and registrations of 4478 commercial vehicles were down by 174 units (3.7 per cent) on September 2017.

“With the continued high price of petrol and recent new fuel taxes, the trend towards downsizing is becoming more apparent,” Crawford said.

“The SUV Medium segment remains the top segment for the month of September with 18 per cent market share.

“This was followed SUV Compact segment with 14 per cent, the Pick Up/Chassis Cab 4x4 also with 14 per cent of the market, and then Small Vehicle segment with 11 per cent market share.”

Toyota retained overall market leadership in September with 21 per cent market share (2944 units), followed by Ford with 10 per cent (1369 units) and Mitsubishi with 9 per cent market share (1219 units).

Toyota also gained 21 per cent share of passenger and SUV registrations (1955 units) on the back of large rental car numbers for the month, followed by Mazda with 9 per cent (812 units) and Mitsubishi with 8 per cent market share (766 units).

In the commercial sector, Toyota was the market leader with 22 per cent market share (989 units) followed by Ford with 20 per cent (901 units) and Mitsubishi third with 10 per cent market share (453 units).

Mitsubishi enjoyed one of its strongest months to rank third in all three categories — passenger/ SUV, commercial and total sales — with a 19 per cent increase in sales compared to September 2017. With three months of the year remaining there is a close fight for the third position in the market with Mazda leading with 9251 units ahead of Holden 9207 and Mitsubishi 9142.

The top-selling model for the month of September was the Toyota Corolla with 872 units followed by the Ford Ranger with 802 units and then the Toyota Hilux with 667 units.

Rental car registrations were a significant factor in September with 643 of the Toyota Corolla registrations being rental cars.

Just over half of all Toyota passenger/SUV registrations were rental cars in September.

In the luxury car segment the market leader with three-quarters of the year complete is MercedesBenz with 1711 units ahead of Audi 1506 and BMW 1395.