NZ sales: Holden’s Commodore lifts

HOLDEN’S all-new ZB Commodore was the top-selling passenger car in New Zealand in March, according to data supplied by the Motor Industry Association (MIA).

With 310 sales last month – its first full month of sales – the German-built large car outsold rivals such as the Mazda CX-5 (303 sales) and frequent NZ market leader Toyota Corolla (287) to lead the passenger segment.

However, all these passenger models trailed the dominant light truck leaders for outright sales honours, with no fewer than five one-tonne utes topping the NZ sales charts again last month.

Toyota’s HiLux (915 sales) pushed the previous month’s top seller, the Ford Ranger (912), into second place in March, with the Holden Colorado (427), Mitsubishi Triton (382) and Nissan Navara (315) filling the next three slots.

The Commodore came in at sixth place overall, up from 10th place in February when the redesigned model started filtering out of showrooms in place of the Australian-built version that went out of production in October last year.

Despite the sales lift by the big Holden, combined passenger car and SUV sales declined 2.0 per cent or 180 vehicles, to 9050 units, and it was left to the booming commercial vehicle segment – up 7.3 per cent, to 4978 sales – to lift the NZ market into positive territory, up 1.1 per cent, to 14,028 vehicles.

After the first quarter, the NZ market is running 2.3 per cent ahead of last year, with 40,356 sales for the three months.

MIA chief executive officer David Crawford said the economic factors of the past two years were still largely present, with strong net immigration, affordable prices and a strong economy.

Perennial market leader Toyota topped both the passenger car and commercial vehicle sales segments in March to again take top spot on the overall sales ladder, with 2421 sales for a dominant 17.2 per cent market share.

Ford again came second on the strength of its Ranger ute, taking a 11.0 per cent share with 1151 sales.

Mitsubishi (1104 sales, 7.8 per cent share) pipped Holden for third place, with the latter scoring 1100 sales and 7.8 per cent share.

Mazda (1017 and 7.2 per cent), Nissan (686 and 4.9 per cent) and Honda (636 and 4.5 per cent) were up next, just ahead of the Korean duo Hyundai (631 and 4.4 per cent) and Kia (617 and 4.4 per cent).

The 4x4 and 4x2 pick-up segments combined accounted for more than a quarter of all NZ sales (26.5 per cent), but the medium SUV class was the strongest single segment, with 16.1 per cent of all sales.

The top-selling rental car in March was the Ford Ranger with 40 sales, ahead of the BMW X5 (20) and Mitsubishi ASX (12).

The Toyota Corolla (4) slipped to 10th place on the rental sales chart, but with 706 sales YTD, it still holds a huge first-quarter lead over its Toyota stablemates, the Highlander (314) and RAV4 (222).

NZ Top 10 Brands, February 2018

Brand	Sales	%Share
Toyota	2421	17.2
Ford	1551	11.0
Mitsubishi	1104	7.8
Holden	1100	7.8
Mazda	1017	7.2
Nissan	686	4.9
Honda	636	4.5
Hyundai	631	4.4
Kia	617	4.4
Suzuki	609	4.3

*Excludes on-road costs