November 2024 sales remained a tough read for the New Zealand new-vehicle industry, with the overall market down 16.2% compared to the same month last year: 12,170 versus 14,519. Year-to-date, sales are down 14.9% on 2023 and 22.9% on 2022.
Vehicle categories are shifting, too. Passenger-vehicle (which includes SUVs) share of the total declined by 5.5% in November and by the same year-to-date. But light commercial vehicles (including those ever-popular utes) reached 19.6% share in November 2024, an increase of 4.5% over the same month last year.
Year-to-date, light commercials have accounted for 26.2% of overall sales, up from 21.5% in the same period last year. In fact, sales are slightly compared to last year, with
Medium SUVs remained the most popular vehicle type in November (27.9%), followed by Compact SUV (19.5%) and Pick Up/Chassis Cab 4x4 (utes, 12.6%).
Hybrid vehicles outstripped conventional ICE, with 46.1% share compared to 42.6%. Battery electric (BEV) accounted for just 7.7%, then plug-in hybrid (PHEV) at 3.6%.
The top three BEVs in November were the Ford Mustang Mach-E (86), Polestar 2 (62) and Volkswagen ID.5 (54, although the sister ID.4 is also next in line with 48).
The top PHEVs were the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross (159), Mitsubishi Outlander (32) and BYD Sealion 6 (25).
The top hybrids were the Toyota RAV4 (1877), followed by the Toyota Corolla (419) and Toyota Yaris Cross (335).
The Motor Industry Association no longer provides a model-by-model breakdown of rental models to media, but rental cars accounted for 26.9% of the overall market in November.
The RAV4 was NZ's top seller overall (all hybrids, so the same 1877), followed by the Ford Ranger (814) and Toyota Hilux (551).