The trusted voice of the industry
for more than 30 years

Car imports dip in June

Last month the number of imported used passenger vehicles dropped by over 5,000 units compared to June 2018, according to Customs NZ’s latest figures. 
Posted on 03 July, 2019
Car imports dip in June

Customs NZ figures show 10,954 used cars were imported into New Zealand in June, down from 15,961 a year earlier.

The year-to-date total is 5,007 units lower than the same six-month period in 2018 with 74,712 units crossing our borders this year.

There was a drop in used-car imports from New Zealand’s main supplier, Japan, in June with 10,028 units coming in. This was a decrease of 34.6 per cent.

The figures were mixed for all of the other countries New Zealand imports from. There were 674 used cars imported from Australia last month, an increase of 101.2 per cent on June 2018, 117 from Singapore, up by 18.2 per cent, and 39 from the UK, down 49.4 per cent.

New-vehicle imports drop by 13.1 per cent

Despite a 14.1 per cent increase on May 2019’s total of 7,725, new imported passenger vehicle numbers dropped by 13.1 per cent last month compared to June 2018.  

Year to date, 47,839 new cars have crossed the border for a decrease of 17.2 per cent compared to the same period the year before.

Japan recorded a reasonable number of new imported passenger vehicles in June with 3,615 units. Last month also saw 1,431 come in from Korea, 777 from Thailand, 490 from Australia and 430 from Germany.

Cool market for light commercials

A total of 2,883 new light-commercial vehicles were imported into New Zealand last month, which was a 14.0 per cent decrease on June 2018 and an 18.9 per cent decrease on May 2019.

The top three countries of export were Thailand, Japan and China with 2,150, 456 and 262 units respectively.

Year to date, 19,963 new commercials have crossed the border for an increase of 4.74 per cent compared to the same period the year before.

Used light-commercial vehicles were also down when compared to the same month in the previous year, with 538 units crossing the border. This represented a 19.9 per cent – or 134-unit – fall.

The year-to-date total is 573 units lower than the same six-month period in 2018 with 3,045 units crossing our borders this year.