New-vehicle sales slumped to less than half the monthly average in July as the Government’s revised Clean Car Discount regime kicked in. Total registrations of 6202 were 44.1 per cent lower than the same month last year, 54.9 per cent lower than the average for 2022 and 49.6 per cent lower than the average for the first five months of 2023.
It’s the lowest monthly registration figure on record since April 2011 – excluding the Covid-19 Level 4 lockdown in April 2020. It’s not completely gloomy: despite the July stall, 2023 registrations are still only 2.0 per cent lower year-to-date than the same period in 2022.
“A decline in registrations was expected, for the market to rebalance following the record month of June” says the Motor Industry Association. “What is concerning is the extent of market disruption generated from Clean Car Discount policy changes. This will likely be causing unnecessary complexity and uncertainty for distributors, the dealership network and the entire supply chain associated with automotive throughout the country.”
Toyota led the market in July with 16.7 per cent share, followed by Ford (14.5 per cent) and Kia (8.1 per cent). There were 3820 ICE vehicles sold, 1150 hybrids, 826 BEVs and 406 PHEVs.
The top models for the month were the Ford Ranger (518), Toyota RAV4 (319) and Toyota Hilux (270). Aside from the RAV4, the top passenger vehicles were the Ford Everest and Kia Niro. Following the Ranger and Hilux in commercial registrations was the Iveco Daily van.
The top segment for July was SUV Medium (24.7 per cent), followed by SUV Compact (19.2 per cent) and SUV Large (8.2 per cent).
NZ’S TOP 10 NEW VEHICLES YEAR-TO-DATE
Ford Ranger (6387)
Toyota Hilux (5846)
Toyota RAV4 (4345)
Suzuki Swift (2708)
Mitsubishi Triton (2536)
MG ZS (2335)
Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross (2257)
Tesla Model Y (2126)
Mitsubishi Outlander (2028)
BYD Atto 3 (1895)