SWING TOWARDS SUVS PUSHES KIA TO THE TOP, WRITES TONY VERDON
The new Kia Sportage was New Zealand’s top-selling passenger vehicle last month, as the swing towards SUVs and utes continued.
There were 290 Kia Sportage models sold last month, according to Motor Industry Association figures.
Toyota remained the passenger car market leader for the month, and Ford second and Holden were in third place.
The Toyota HiLux regained the top spot as the month’s top-selling commercial vehicle, beating the Ford Ranger into second place. The HiLux was also the top-selling model overall for the month, registering 535 units.
Toyota was the overall market leader during April, taking 15 per cent of the market, by selling 1516 vehicles. Ford was second on 13 per cent (1276 units) and Holden third on 8 per cent (829 units).
The three top-selling passenger vehicles were all SUVs, and the Sportage captured 4 per cent of the market, followed by the Mazda CX-5 on 3 per cent (224 units) and the Toyota RAV4 on 3 per cent (204 units).
The chief executive of the Motor Industry Association, David Crawford, said healthy regional economies in Auckland and Christchurch combined with continued strong net immigration, and competitive pricing, drove the strongest new vehicles registration numbers for the month of April since 1982.
There were 9939 new vehicle registrations for the month, up 7 per cent or 649 units, on April last year.
“There were 6789 passenger vehicle registrations and 3150 commercial vehicle registrations, which were once again the highest month of April on record for commercial vehicle registrations,” said Crawford.
The Ford Ranger was the second best commercial vehicle sold, with 16 per cent market share (507 units) and the Nissan Navara came in at 10 per cent (327 units)in third place.
However, year to date, the Ford Ranger retained its lead as the top-selling commercial model and 18 per cent market share (2410 units) followed by the Toyota Hilux’s 14 per cent market share (1880 units).
Crawford said the figures highlighted strong demand for 4x2 and 4x4 utes. The SUV segment accounted for 36 per cent of vehicle registrations, followed by pick-ups on 22 per cent.