The rise and rise of used imported car registrations

Used imported passenger vehicle sales around New Zealand totalled 14,430 units last month, up 8.2 per cent on June’s figure of 13,339 and a 10.5 per cent increase compared to July 2016, when 13,055 cars were sold. Year-to-date, used imported car registrations have increased by 10.6 per cent to 94,382 vehicles – 9,065 units higher than the January – July 2016 period, which saw 85,317 used passenger vehicle sales. Toyota was the market leader, as usual, with 3,705 used cars sold, up 13.7 per cent for a 25.7 per cent market share for the month. Comfortably in second place, Nissan sold 2,732 used passenger vehicles, a 7.6 per cent increase for an 18.9 per cent market share, followed by Mazda, up 9.4 per cent to 2,146 units sold, taking 14.9 per cent of the market. The top-selling car was once again the Mazda Axela, with 676 units sold, a 15 per cent annual increase, followed by the Suzuki Swift, with 626 sales (up 19.47 per cent year-on-year) and the Nissan Tiida, only one unit behind with 625 sales (down 3.1 per cent). Some regions around the country saw large gains in used imported car registrations last month, including Westport, which doubled its total to 14 units sold, Oamaru, which jumped 76.5 per cent to 30 vehicles, and Palmerston North, which increased 33.8 per cent to 428 units, an extra 108 used imported cars sold.