New-car sales down 33%

May was a tough month for dealers of new passenger vehicles as sales nosedived to 6,366 compared with 9,537 in the same month of 2023. That was a drop of 33.2 per cent.

Last month’s most popular model was Toyota’s RAV4 with 761 units, which was down by 11.5 per cent versus May last year.

Next up was the Mitsubishi’s ASX, pictured, on 328 for a 108.9 per cent jump, and Suzuki’s Swift with 246, down by 39 per cent.

The top five was completed by the Mitsubishi Outlander with 223, down 50.3 per cent, and Kia’s Seltos on 201 for an 86.1 per cent increase.

Last month’s most popular marques were Toyota with 1,384 units. That total was down by 22.3 per cent compared with 1,781 in May 2023. 

Kia was second with 680, up by 5.3 per cent, and Mitsubishi on 659, down 39.8 per cent. Suzuki was fourth with 505 units and Mazda fifth on 349.

Toyota remains the leading marque year to date after completing 7,367 registrations for a 21.6 share of the market.

Mitsubishi is second on 3,731 and 11 per cent, with Kia third on 3,491 and 10.3 per cent.