Downward trend for used imports continues

There were 12,212 used imported cars registered last month – nine per cent or 1,208 units less than May 2018’s total of 13,420.

May’s result brought the year-to-date total to 57,674, a decrease of 4,247 units – or by 6.9 per cent – compared to the same period in 2018.

The battle for top model was close with the Mazda Axela back in top spot. The Honda Fit was second and Suzuki’s Swift was third – bumping Nissan’s Tiida into fourth. 

There were 631 Axelas sold during May – up 2.3 per cent on the same month of last year. Fit registrations totalled 589 units for a jump of 15.7 per cent, and 537 Swift sales represented drop of 3.9 per cent. The three models hold 5.2, 4.8 and 4.4 per cent of this year’s market share respectively. 

Toyota was once again the top-selling brand with 2,591 units, which was a decrease of 16.5 per cent on the 3,102 in same month of last year. This resulted in a market share of 21.2 per cent.

Nissan held onto second with 2,424 sales last month – a fall of 7.8 per cent on May 2018’s 2,630 for a market share of 19.8 per cent. Mazda was third on 2,013 registrations, which was a decrease of 2.4 per cent for a market share of 16.5 per cent. 

Most regions recorded losses last month compared with May 2018. Tauranga led the way with a 23.3 per cent fall – from 208 registrations to 171 last month. It was followed by Rotorua and Timaru with decreases of 17.8 and 15.3 per cent respectively.

The region that performed best when compared to the same month a year ago were Oamaru, up by 118.2 per cent from 11 in 2018 to 24 units last month. It was followed by Gisborne – up by 35.7 per cent, from 64 units to 87.