New vehicle sales slow significantly

The brakes were applied to New Zealand new vehicle sales during May with registrations significantly down on the same month last year.

“May 2019 registration figures of 12,259 vehicles were down 13.5 per cent (1910 units) on the same month in 2018, indicating a significant softening of the vehicle market,” said David Crawford, chief executive officer of the Motor Industry Association.

“The May 2019 result is stronger than the same month in 2016, but weaker than the month of May in the previous two record years.”

The weaker May registration figures followed on from record April figures and the market to the end of May is down 4.9 per cent (3178 units) on the first five months of 2018.

“The outturn for May 2019 indicates the new vehicle market is softening, consistent with weaker regional vehicle sales in 2019 across Australia and New Zealand,” said Crawford.

The monthly registration total of 7624 passenger and SUVs was down by 17.8 per cent (1652 units)

on May 2018 volumes while commercial vehicle registrations of 4635 units were down 5.3 per cent (258 units) compared to the May 2018.

Toyota was the overall market leader in May achieving 15 per cent market share (1893 units) followed by Ford with 11 per cent (1337 units). Holden regained third sport with 8 per cent market share (1002 units) moving ahead of Mitsubishi.

Toyota was also the market leader for passenger and SUV registrations with 14 per cent market share (1086 units) followed by Mazda with 9 per cent (707 units) and then by Hyundai also with 9 per cent market share (688 units).

New Zealand’s top selling passenger and SUV models for the month were the Toyota RAV4 (492 units) followed by the Hyundai Tucson (301 units) and the Mazda CX-5 (224 units).

In the commercial sector, Ford retained the market lead with 22 per cent market share (1009 units) followed by Toyota with 17 per cent (807 units) and Mitsubishi Hyundai Tucson sales were boosted by rental car registrations and it was the number two selling vehicle in the passenger/ SUV segment last month.

MAY TOP-10

1 Ford Ranger, 878

2 Toyota Hilux, 552 3 Mitsubishi Triton, 514 4 Toyota RAV4, 492

5 Holden Colorado, 466 6 Nissan Navara, 362 7 Hyundai Tucson, 301 8 Mazda CX-5, 224

9 Toyota Hiace, 220 10 Mitsubishi Outlander, 217

third with 11 per cent market share (514 units).

The Ford Ranger retained the top spot as the best-selling commercial model (and bestselling model overall) with 878

units followed by the Toyota Hilux with 552 units and the Mitsubishi Triton in third with 514 units.

Influencing the monthly figures was significantly fewer rental car registrations in May 2019 compared to May 2018. Toyota paused its role as the main supplier to the rental market and the May leader in the rental sector was the Hyundai Tucson with 94 registrations.

Vehicle segmentation for May 2019 confirmed that SUV and light commercial models dominate the New Zealand market. The top three segments for the month were SUV medium vehicles with 19 per cent share followed by the Pick

Up/Chassis Cab 4x4 segment with 18 per cent share and the SUV Compact with 13 per cent.

Year-to-date New Zealand’s five top-selling vehicles are all utes. The Ford Ranger leads with 4022 registrations followed by the Toyota Hilux with 2788, Mitsubishi Triton with 2518, Holden Colorado 1986 and the Nissan Navara with 1623 units.

In the passenger/SUV segment the leader in the first five months of 2019 is the Toyota Corolla with 1609 registrations followed by the Kia Sportage with 1524, Toyota RAV4 on 1473, Mazda CX-5 with 1440 and the Suzuki Swift with 1297 registrations.