October was the best month on record for new vehicle registrations in New Zealand with medium SUVs dominating sales.
There were 14,709 new vehicles registered in October, beating the previous highest month in July 1984 when 13,983 units were registered.
Motor Industry Association president John Manley said it is the first time that more than 14,000 new vehicles were registered in a month.
“New vehicle sales are a barometer of businesses and consumer’s confidence in the economy. The record sales for the month of October indicates that there is a strong level of confidence in the performance of the New Zealand economy,” said Manley.
Registrations of new vehicles were up 16 per cent on October 2015 and are 9605 units ahead year to date compared to this time last year.
For the month of October there were 10,795 passenger and SUV vehicle registrations, and 3914 commercial vehicle registrations.
Mazda CX-5 AWD (right).
Toyota was the overall market leader for the month of October with 22 per cent market share, with Holden second on 13 per cent and Ford third with 11 per cent.
Toyota remains the passenger car and SUV market leader, with Holden second and Mazda third.
Ford retained the commercial vehicle market, thanks to the strength of Ranger ute sales, followed by Toyota and Holden third.
Year to date the Ranger stretched its lead as the top-selling commercial model and vehicle with 7173 registrations while the Toyota Corolla hit 4789 registrations so far in 2016.
The Corolla was the top-selling passenger model for the month with 1210 car registered, followed by the Toyota Yaris (362) and the Holden Commodore (356). The rental market accounted for the Corolla and Yaris dominance in the passenger market.
Four vehicles in the top 10 passenger market in October were medium sized SUVs. Toyota’s RAV4 sat at second spot, Kia’s Sportage was third, Mazda CX-5 was fourth, and Hyundai’s Tuscon was eighth.
The medium SUV segment makes up 14 per cent of registrations year to date, with utes and small cars taking up 13 per cent each of the market.
In the premium vehicle market, Mercedes-Benz maintained its lead with 253 units registered in October, taking it to 2083 for the year to date, with BMW on 1552 and Audi on 1507.