Commercial sector tumbles

Drops across the board follow the surge in demand a year ago ahead of clean-car legislation.

Posted on 03 April, 2023

Some 4,371 new commercials were registered last month for a drop of 55.5 per cent when compared to 9,817 in March last year ahead of the clean car discount (CCD) starting on April 1, 2022.

The Ford Ranger was the top model with 1,333 units, which was down 31 per cent from 1,932 in the same month a year ago, as it took out 30.5 per cent of the market.

Toyota’s Hilux was second on 834, a fall of 47.1 per cent from 1,577 in March 2022, and Mitsubishi’s Triton, pictured, came third with 304, slipping 86.6 per cent year-on-year.

Completing last month’s top five was the Toyota Hiace on 207 and Nissan’s Navara on 196, with those models also suffering significant sales drops from a year ago.

Year to date, the Ranger has 2,986 registrations and a 27.5 per cent market share, while the Hilux is on 2,481 and 22.9 per cent.

Ford claimed top spot on the marques’ ladder in March with 1,439 sales and a 32.9 per cent share of the market. Its monthly sales were down 29.8 per cent from 2,049 a year ago.

Toyota was runner-up last month on 1,072 units, which was 43.4 per cent lower than its 1,893 sales in March 2022, and gave it 24.5 per cent of all new commercial activity.

Mitsubishi was next on 306 registrations, Isuzu with 300 and Nissan recorded 196.

Ford now leads the sector year-to-date on 3,261 registrations and 30.1 per cent of the market, ahead of Toyota on 3,003 and 27.7 per cent.

As for used-imported commercials, there were 570 registered in March compared with 2,117 in the same month of 2022 for a drop of 73.1 per cent, following last year’s surge for such vehicles before the CCD kicked in.

Toyota was the number-one marque with 245 registrations for a market share of 43 per cent despite followed by Nissan on 124 and 21.8 per cent.

The Toyota Hiace was the leading model with 28.4 per cent of March’s market thanks to 162 sales, which was down from 685 a year ago.

Nissan’s NV350 was the second best-seller last month with 75 sales and a 13.2 per cent share of the overall total, while the Hino Dutro was third on 39 units.