Imports up year-to-date
There were 6,111 used passenger vehicles imported into New Zealand during May, which was 44.2 per cent lower than the 10,954 units recorded in the same month a year ago.
It took the year-to-date tally to 43,927 vehicles, which was up by 0.7 per cent from 43,618 at the same stage of 2023.
Last month’s total included 5,864 cars arriving from Japan, which claimed a market share of 96 per cent, according to the figures from Customs NZ.
Australia was the source of 125 units and had two per cent of the monthly total. Singapore claimed third place with 31, with the US and the UK next on 26 and 21 units respectively.
The latest monthly figure was also down 47.5 per cent from the 11,638 used cars imported in April this year.
As for used light commercials, there were 251 imports in May. This was down 19 per cent from 310 in the same month a year ago and 48.6 per cent lower than the 488 units imported in April.
The year-to-date total stands at 1,927, which is 21.3 per cent more than the 1,588 units after the first five months of 2023.
New imports
There were 7,808 new passenger vehicles imported in May, which represented a 2.3 per cent decrease from the 7,995 units in the same month of last year.
In contrast, last month’s figure represented a 25.3 per cent climb from April when 6,233 new cars crossed our borders.
Japan was the top source of new vehicles, accounting for 2,611 units, with Thailand second on 1,307. South Korea, Belgium and China completed the top five countries of export with 1,078, 643 and 598 units, respectively.
The year-to-date figure of 34,781 is 2.6 per cent more than the 33,912 recorded at the same stage of last year.
For new light commercials, there were 2,157 units imported last month, which was 78.9 per cent more than the 1,206 seen in May 2023.
Month-on-month, the total was 6.2 per cent fewer than the 2,299 recorded in April this year.
The sector’s year-to-date tally stood at 10,887 at the end of May, which was up 2.1 per cent from the 10,662 units imported during the same period of 2023.
Overall, 16,479 vehicles, including trucks and buses, crossed our border in May, which was up from 20,823 the previous month.
