NZ Sales: Positive sales continue in August

NEW ZEALAND’S new vehicle market is continuing the momentum begun in June, progressing upward to a total of 11,739 registrations for the month of August.

The August figure compares with 11,671 new vehicle registrations recorded in July and is a heartening 17.5 per cent gain on the 9986 sales for August 2024.

New Zealand Motor Industry Association chief executive officer Aimee Wiley says with three consecutive months of improved sales, there is growing cause for optimism that a corner has been turned.

“We saw a sharp increase in June – possibly off the back of the Investment Boost measure contained in the May budget – and numbers have remained steady through July and August, so that is an encouraging trend,” she enthused.

Sales of light passenger vehicles (passenger cars and SUVs) totalled 8090 in August compared with 7635 in July and represent a 19.6 per cent increase on the 6761 registrations in August 2024.

The Toyota RAV4 continued to dominate the category with 1039 registrations, with the Ford Everest second on 413 sales, and the Mitsubishi ASX on 397.

Registrations of light commercial vehicles remained reasonably steady at 3031 compared with 3532 in July and from 3225 in August 2024.

Long-time category leader the Ford Ranger was restored to top position after losing it in July to perennial rival the Toyota HiLux; the Ranger recording 978 registrations last month compared to the HiLux’s 745, followed by the Mitsubishi Triton with 262.

The heavy vehicle category recorded a solid increase with 618 sales, compared with 504 in July, but slightly less than the 649 sold in August of last year.

However, the trend for battery electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles took an opposite tack, with sales continuing the downward direction of recent months. From the perspective of achieving CO2 emissions targets, Ms Wiley described this trend as “alarming.”

Battery electric vehicles totalled 385 registrations during August compared with 638 sales in July and 564 sales in August 2024.

Similarly plug-in hybrids recorded 408 sales in August, compared with 749 in July, but up from the 231 in August last year.

Sales of hybrids remained steady on 3091, compared with 3434 in July and 2434 in August 2024.

Top 10 sales by Make (August passenger, SUV and light commercial)*:

Top 10 sales by Model (August passenger and SUV)*:

Top 10 sales by Model (August light commercial)*:

*All figures are supplied courtesy of the Motor Industry Association of New Zealand.