For the fifth year in a row the new car sector has kicked the new year off in the best possible fashion with a record month.
“Continuing the trend for the last five years, January new vehicle registrations of 14,834 was yet again another record month," said CEO of the Motor Industry Association, David Crawford.
"Registrations were up 7.3 per cent (1011 units) on January 2017. The strength of growth in the new vehicle market ran somewhat against expectations, making it once again the strongest ever start to a new sales year.”
The record start in 2018 has been attributed to New Zealand's steady economy, high levels of immigration and the continued strength of the tourism industry driving strong demand for rental vehicles.
Passenger car and SUV registrations of 10,797 units were up 6.4 per cent (647 units) on January 2017. Commercial vehicle registrations of 4,037 units were up 9.9 per cent (364 units) on January 2017.
Toyota remains the overall market leader with 22 per cent market share (3,270 units), followed by Ford with 11 per cent (1,654 units) and Mazda with 8 per cent market share (1,197 units).
Toyota was also the market leader for passenger and SUV registrations with nearly a quarter of the market at 23 per cent market share (2,490 units) followed by Mazda with 9 per cent (1,025 units) and Ford with 8% market share (846 units).
In the commercial sector, Ford was again the market leader with 20 per cent (808 units) followed by Toyota with 19 per cent (780 units) and Holden with 10 per cent market share (385 units).
The Toyota Corolla begins 2018 back at the top of the bestselling vehicle model table with 958 units (696 units were rental sales). The Ford Ranger was the second bestselling model for the month of January with 713 units followed by the Toyota Hilux with 636 units.
The SUV medium segment accounted for 16 per cent of the market, followed by the small passenger segment with 14 per cent and the SUV compact with 13 per cent market share.
“As 2018 gets underway, nothing has changed with the economic environment that existed for most of the last 24 months," said Crawford.
"The key drivers of new vehicle sales remain the continued elevated levels of net immigration, low costs of debt, a strong national economy and a stable government.”
-Driven
Top 10 Selling Models - January 2018
| Toyota Corolla | 958 |
| Toyota Highlander | 427 |
| Toyota RAV4 | 421 |
| Ford Focus | 320 |
| Kia Sportage | 315 |
| Mazda CX-5 | 305 |
| Mazda Mazda3 | 266 |
| Suzuki Swift | 242 |
| Nissan Qashqai | 217 |
| Holden Captiva | 211 |