New vehicle registrations in October were the highest on record, surpassing 16,000 units for the first time.
Thanks to strong demand for SUVs, utes and a booming rental market, October saw over 537 new cars registered on New Zealand roads every day.
“Registration of 16,670 vehicles for the month of October is not only the strongest month of October ever but also sets a new monthly record for any month of the year ever," said CEO of the Motor Industry Association, David Crawford.
"The previously single strongest month was June 2017 when there were 15,985 new vehicles registered, with October 2018 coming in 7.3 per cent higher (1,140 units)”
Year to date, the market is also up on the record-setting levels seen in 2017, holding steady up by 1.7 per cent (2,301 units) compared to the first ten months of last year. Registrations of 11,767 passenger and SUV vehicles for the month of October were up 653 units on October 2017, an increase of 5.9 per cent and registrations of 4,903 commercial vehicles were up by 487 units (11 per cent) on October 2017.
Toyota retained the overall market leader with a massive 30 per cent market share (4,998 units, its strongest month ever too) built on an impressive month of rental sales, followed by Holden with 9 per cent (1,435 units) and Ford with 8 per cent market share (1,288 units).
Toyota retained the market lead for passenger and SUV registrations with a huge 33 per cent share of the October passenger and SUV market (3,875 units), followed by Mazda with 9 per cent (1,078 units) and Holden also with 9 per cent market share (1,024 units).
In the commercial sector, Toyota retained the market lead with 23 per cent market share (1,123 units) followed by Ford with 20% (978 units) and Holden third with 8% market share (411 units).
With a strong result in the rental market in October, it comes as no surprise that the top selling model for the month was the Toyota Corolla with 1,744 units of which 1,539 were rentals, followed by the Toyota RAV4 with 996 units (814 rentals) and then the Ford Ranger in unfamiliar territory in third with 876 units. However, year to date the Ford Ranger still holds the top model spot with 8,306 units followed by the Toyota Hilux with 6,760 units and the Toyota Corolla with 5,830 units.
Read more: New Toyota Corolla arrives in NZ - and we take it for a spin
The top three segments for the month of October were all medium to small vehicles, with the SUV medium segment retaining its lead with 18% market share, followed by small vehicles with 16 per cent market share and SUV compact with 13 per cent market share.
“The strong result in October is off the back of car rental companies renewing their stock and is a vote of confidence by that sector in the strength of the New Zealand tourism market” said Crawford.
Total vehicle sales by model - October 2018
| Marque and Model | Sales |
| Toyota Corolla | 1744 |
| Toyota RAV4 | 996 |
| Ford Ranger | 876 |
| Toyota Hilux | 810 |
| Mitsubishi Triton | 402 |
| Holden Colorado | 398 |
| Mazda CX-5 | 365 |
| Toyota Highlander | 332 |
| Kia Sportage | 318 |
| Mazda Mazda3 | 306 |
| Toyota Hiace | 291 |
| Nissan Navara | 289 |
| Toyota Yaris | 283 |
| Mitsubishi ASX | 268 |
| Holden Commodore | 252 |