NEW-CAR INDUSTRY BACK ON THE ROAD IN MAY
The New Zealand motor industry was back in business during May, following the April lockdown. But the Motor Industry Association (MIA), the organisation which represents new-vehicle distributors, is arguing for a move to Alert Level 1 as soon as possible.
“The MIA shares the views of many that with no new Covid-19 cases and no known community spread for at least two months, we should be looking to move . . . sooner rather than later,” says MIA chief executive David Crawford.
“The country is better prepared now to manage the odd case of Covid-19 should it arise. Our health system has improved significantly in terms of testing capability, contact tracing and hospital intensive care capacity.
“It is time to get our economy moving forward.”
May registrations totalled 8313, compared with 11,438 for prelockdown February (or 12,259 for the same month last year). Passenger cars/SUVs recovered better than light commercials, evidenced by the Toyota RAV4 topping the charts for the month with 533 registrations, followed by the Ford Ranger (498) and Toyota Hilux (440). Alternative-fuel vehicles made a good showing: there were 721 hybrid, 58 pureelectric and 51 plug-in hybrid vehicles sold during May. Toyota was the overall market leader with 19 per cent market share (1611 units), followed by Holden with 9 per cent (760) and Ford with 8 per cent (702).
Year to date, the Ranger is still the number one vehicle with 2578 sales. It’s followed by the Hilux (1983) and RAV4 (1857).
Toyota remains the number one brand for 2020 with 17 per cent market share, followed by Ford (10 per cent) and Mitsubishi (8 per cent).