The Ford Ranger is back on top of the New Zealand new-vehicle sales charts year-to-date, after another mega sales month.
May 2021 registrations of 14,552 were up 6239 on the same time last year - and the largest on record.
New stock is continuing to flow into the country, but the importation business remains "logistically challenging", according to Motor Industry Association spokesperson Mark Stockdale.
"Worldwide shipping capacity is still a long way off pre-Covid-19 levels and manufacturers are still grappling with a worldwide shortage of semi-conductor chips.
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"Additionally, as the rest of the world comes out of Covid-19 consumers are doing what NZers did last year, spending up large in new items. Worldwide demand for new vehicles is outstripping production capability and it is possible manufacturers might begin to pro-rata supply to markets.
"Within these constraints the NZ market... has performed exceptionally well."
Year to date, Kiwi sales are up 64.9 per cent compared with the first five months of 2020, which was severely affected by Covid-19 lockdown.
Total sales to the end of May put Ranger ahead of rival Hilux again, albeit by the slimmest of margins: at 4223 registrations, the Ford is just 77 units ahead of the Toyota. The top passenger/SUV model was the Mitsubishi Outlander (fourth overall behind another Mitsubishi, the Triton ute).
Toyota remains the overall market leader with 16 per cent share, followed by Mitsubishi (12 per cent) and Ford (9 per cent).
In the passenger/SUV segments it's still Toyota with 13 per cent share, followed by Kia (12 per cent) and Mitsubishi (also 12 percent).
For commercials, which includes those big-selling utes but also vans, Toyota claims a massive 23 per cent, followed by Ford (21 per cent) and Mitsubishi (12 per cent).
The single most genre of new vehicle is SUV Compact (24 per cent of total sales year-to-date), followed by SUV Medium (18 per cent) and Pick Up/Chassis Cab 4x4.
THE TOP 10 VEHICLES IN NZ FOR 2021 SO FAR
Ford Ranger (4223)
Toyota Hilux (4146)
Mitsubishi Triton (2432)
Mitsubishi Outlander (2389)
Toyota RAV4 (2177)
Mitsubishi ASX (1921)
Mazda CX-5 (1567)
Nissan Navara (1488)
Suzuki Swift (1384)
Kia Stonic (1345)