New Zealand's three top-selling vehicles so far this year are all utes, with the Ford Ranger retaining its sales lead.
The Ranger is followed by the Toyota Hilux and the Mitsubishi Triton in third position, according to Motor Industry Association registration figures.
There were 3144 Rangers registered last month, 2237 Hilux and 2005 Tritons.
Toyota Hilux. Picture/Matthew Hansen
There were 10,640 vehicles registered during April, 2 per cent more than the same month last year.
But the chief executive of the association, David Crawford, said the market to the end of April was down 2.5 per cent, or 1268 units, compared with the first four months of last year.
However registrations last month were the strongest on record, by five units over April 2017.
Total registrations of passenger and SUVs during April were down 1 per cent (70 units) compared with last year, while commercial vehicle sales were up 8 per cent, or 287 units.
It was the strongest April month on record for sales of light and heavy commercial vehicles and takes the year to date registrations of commercial vehicles to 0.7% ahead of the same period in 2018.
For the month of April, Toyota remained the overall market leader with 17 per cent market share (1,806 units), followed by Ford with 11 per cent (1,138 units) and Mitsubishi with 9 per cent market share (909 units).
New Zealand's third-best-selling vehicle, the Mitsubishi Triton. Picture/ Ted Baghurst.
Toyota was also the market leader for passenger and SUV registrations with 16 per cent market share (1,112 units) followed by Mazda with 9 per cent (601 units) and then by Hyundai with 8 per cent market share (562 units). The top selling passenger and SUV models for the month were the Toyota RAV4 (525 units) followed by the Kia Sportage (328 units) and the Mazda CX5 (252 units).
In the commercial sector, Ford retained the market lead with 22% market share (865 units) followed by Toyota with 18% (694 units) and Mitsubishi third with 12% market share (465 units). The Ford Ranger retained the top spot as the bestselling commercial model with 20% share (760 units) followed by the Toyota Hilux with 14% share (542 units) with the Mitsubishi Triton in third with 12% market share (464 units).
Vehicle segmentation for April 2019 continued recent trends with SUV’s and light commericals dominating the market. The top three segments for the month were SUV medium vehicles with 21% share followed by the Pick Up/Chassis Cab 4x4 segment with 18% share and the SUV Compact in third with 14% market share.
“The strong outturn for April 2019 was positive in tight market conditions” said Mr Crawford.