Rise in used imports

The number of used passenger vehicles imported into New Zealand during March came to 13,290 – an increase of 23.4 per cent compared to March 2018, according to Customs NZ’s latest figures.

Similarly, March’s total was an increase of 51.6 per cent – or 4,526 units – on February 2019. 

Last month’s result brought the year-to-date total to 35,533, an increase of 6,596 units compared to the same three-month period in 2018.

There was a significant increase in used car imports from New Zealand’s main supplier Japan in March, with 12,287 units crossing our border. This was an increase 56.7 per cent, or 4,446 units, on the previous month. 

The figures were also up for all of the other countries that New Zealand imports from. There were 647used cars imported from Australia, 163 from Singapore and 74 from the UK.

Drop in new-vehicle imports

The number of new cars imported into the country last month came to 8,782, which was a decrease of 11.8 per cent on March 2018’s total of 9,954. 

Year-to-date, 24,119 new cars have crossed the border, which is a decrease of 1,202 units compared to the same period the year before.

Japan recorded a reasonable number of new imported passenger vehicles in March with 3,289 units. Last month also saw 1,235 new imported vehicles from Thailand, 828 from Belgium, 770 from Korea and 468 from the Czech Republic. 

Increase in new and used commercials 

A total of 3,490 new light-commercial vehicles were imported into New Zealand in March, which was a 18.3 per cent increase on March 2018 and a 26.7 per cent increase on February 2019. The top three countries of export were Thailand, Japan and China with 2,727, 594 and 178 units respectively. 

Used light-commercial vehicles were also up when compared to February 2019, with 463 units crossing the border. This was a 107.6 per cent – or 233-unit – rise.