NZ sales: October sets new monthly record

NEW Zealand’s new-vehicle market set a new monthly sales record in October due to strong rental demand, with the 16,670 units sold during the period eclipsing the previous benchmark (15,985) from June 2017.

 

Sales in October increased by 7.3 per cent over the corresponding month last year, helping to push the market’s year-to-date volume to 136,261 units (+1.7%) and placing a fifth consecutive annual record further within reach.

 

Sales of passengers cars and SUVs topped 11,767 units (+5.9%) last month, while light-commercial vehicles (LCVs) lifted their volume even further (4903, 11.0%).

 

Commanding a market share of 18.0 per cent, mid-size SUVs were the most popular vehicles in October, followed by small passenger cars (15.5%) and small SUVs (13.3%).

 

According to NZ Motor Industry Association (MIA) chief executive officer David Crawford, the market’s new monthly sales record was mainly due to its buoyant tourism industry.

 

“The strong result in October is off the back of car rental companies renewing their stock and is a vote of confidence by that sector in the strength of the New Zealand tourism market,” he said.

 

With a massive 30.0 per cent market share, Toyota was the best-selling brand in October (4998 units, +12.1%), setting its own monthly sales record due to rental dominance.

 

The Corolla small car was the best-selling model in October, down 1.6 per cent to 1744 sales, 1539 of which came from rental companies that also opted for the second-placed RAV4 mid-size SUV (996, +107.9%) and eighth-placed Highlander/Kluger large SUV (332, -0.6%) in large numbers.

 

Toyota’s HiLux ute had another strong showing in fourth position, but its 810 sales were not enough to eclipse its main rival, the third-placed Ford Ranger (876 units, +2.7%), despite being up by 6.3 per cent.

 

The Blue Oval did, however, have to settle for third position on the brand ladder, with its sales backtracking by 15.8 per cent, to 1288 units, giving second-placed Holden (1435, +7.0%) the upper hand.

 

While the Lion brand’s Commodore mid-size car is finding some traction (252 units, +1.6%), its sixth-placed Colorado pick-up continues (398, +29.2%) to do most of the heavy lifting.

 

Mazda finished in fourth position after its sales improved by 14.1 per cent, to 1251 units, thanks to healthy returns from the seventh-placed CX-5 mid-size SUV (265 units) and 10th-placed Mazda3 small car (306).

 

Mitsubishi’s fifth-position effort was even stronger, with its sales up 19.3 per cent to 1158 units as it rode the coattails of the fifth-placed Triton ute (402) and the ASX small SUV (268).

 

Hyundai put in a poorer performance (718 units, -16.7%) for sixth position, while seventh-placed Nissan fired back with impressive growth (682, +13.8%) led by the Navara (289).

 

Thanks to its ninth-placed Sportage mid-size SUV (318 units, -10.2%), Kia (611, +4.4%) fared better in eighth position than a declining Suzuki (515, -8.0%) in ninth position, even with the apparent popularity of its Swift light hatch (250).

 

Meanwhile, Volkswagen recorded the largest increase in volume among the leading brands, assuming 10th position with its sales up 24.5 per cent, to 498 units.

 

In the year-to-date sales races, Toyota (32,282 units) and the Ford Ranger (8306) lead their rivals in the brand and model stakes respectively.

NZ top 10 makes October 2018

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