New-car market steady

Registrations of new passenger vehicles held steady last month at 8,059, which was only down 0.5 per cent from the 8,096 achieved in January 2024.

However, the latest monthly total was an increase of 12.1 per cent from the 7,188 sales recorded in December 2024.

January’s top new car was Toyota’s RAV4 with 1,023 units and a 12.7 per cent market share. Its total also represented a 65.5 per cent jump from the 618 units sold in the same month a year ago. 

Kia’s Seltos, pictured, was second last month on 362 sales, up by 16.8 per cent, and the Mitsubishi ASX took out third spot with 324 after a year-on-year drop of 26 per cent.

Next was the Suzuki Swift on 249, down by 11.4 per cent, and Mitsubishi’s Outlander completed the top five with 215 sales after a fall of 49.9 per cent.

Other notable year-on-year shifts were recorded by Toyota’s Land Cruiser Prado, up by 657.1 per cent to 159, the MG3 climbing 175.6 per cent to 113, and the Ford Mustang leaping 987.5 per cent from eight to 87. 

On the flipside, the Toyota Corolla Cross fell by 49.6 per cent to 122, the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross dropped by 51.2 per cent to 101 and Nissan’s Qashqai tumbled by 64.5 per cent to 77.

January’s top marque was Toyota with 1,691 registrations – up by 3.9 per cent and enough to give it a market share of 21 per cent.

Completing the top five for new cars was Kia on 858 – up by 3.7 per cent, Mitsubishi with 665 – down 41.8 per cent, Suzuki on 506 – down 5.4 per cent, and Ford with 375 – a fall of 15.2 per cent.

Notable year-on-year market shifts were experienced by MG, with sales up 64.6 per cent to 321, BYD surging 333.3 per cent to 169 and Peugeot climbing 69.6 per cent to 95.