NZ Sales: New record for March

NEW ZEALAND new-car sales reached an all-time high in March as buyers moved to beat the Clean Car Discount fees that came into effect on April 1, says Motor Industry Association (MIA) CEO David Crawford.

The March 2022 new-car sales figures of 21,044 are the strongest for any month of the year ever, and a substantial 4374 units over the country’s previous best-ever sales month of October 2018.

The MIA says sales were dominated by the largest ever monthly registrations of light commercial vehicles as buyers sought to avoid the fees introduced on vehicles that emit high levels of CO2. A total of 9841 light and heavy commercial vehicles were registered in New Zealand during March.

Mitsubishi led the market in March with a 24 per cent market share (2329 units), including 2266 Triton sales, ahead of Ford with a 21 per cent share of the market (2050 units), including 1933 Ranger sales, and Toyota with a 19 per cent market share (1905 units), of which 1580 sales were attributed to HiLux.

Year-to-date market share echoes that position with Mitsubishi on 22 per cent ahead of Ford on 21 per cent and Toyota on 15 per cent.

Overall registrations of 21,044 were up 35.8 per cent (or 5546 units) on the corresponding month last year. Year-to-date, the market is up 12.5 per cent (or 5230 units) compared with the first three months of 2021.

March 2022 sales included 1777 battery electric vehicles (BEVs), 431 plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), and 496 petrol-electric hybrid vehicles.

Top-selling BEV models included the Tesla Model 2 (949 units), followed by the MG ZS (129 units) and the Polestar 2 (105 units). The Tesla Model 3 was also the top-selling passenger vehicle for the month of March.

The best-selling PHEVs included the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross, with 144 units sales, ahead of the Mitsubishi Outlander (121 units) and MG HS (69 units).

Petrol-electric hybrid vehicle sales softened in March as buyers delayed their purchase to take advantage of the Clean Car Discount introduced on April 1. Of the 496 petrol-electric hybrid vehicles sold in New Zealand in March, the Toyota RAV4, Honda Jazz and Mercedes-Benz C-Class performed best with units sales of 84, 42 and 33 respectively.

There was a total of 11,203 passenger and SUV models registered for March, which represents an increase of 10.8 per cent (or 1090 units) on March 2021.

Mitsubishi retained market leadership in passenger and SUV sales with an 11 per cent market share (1237 units), followed by Telsa with eight per cent (949 units) and Toyota also with eight per cent (862 units). The top-three-selling passenger and SUV models for the month included the Tesla Model 3 (949 units), Mitsubishi Outlander (625 units) and Toyota RAV4 (496 units).

The MIA says market segmentation favourws 4x4 light commercial utility vehicles (28%) ahead of medium SUVs (17%), compact SUVs (13%) and 4x2 light commercial utility vehicles (9%).

Year-to-date there has been a reduction in the overall market share for small passenger vehicles (-48%) showing a continuing preference toward light commercial and SUV vehicles.

Top 10 sales by make (March 2022):

Top 10 passenger sales by model (March 2022):

Top 10 commercial sales by model (March 2022):