'Softening' new-vehicle market

Sales of new vehicles in New Zealand last month fell by 13.5 per cent, or by 1,910 units, when stacked against the same month in 2018.

“May 2019’s registration figures of 12,259 vehicles were down by 13.5 per cent on the same month in 2018, indicating a significant softening of the market,” says David Crawford, chief executive officer of the Motor Industry Association.

“The May 2019 result is stronger than the same month in 2016, but weaker than May in the previous two record years. The market to the end of May is down by 4.9 per cent – or by 3,178 units – on the first five months of 2018.

“Total registrations of 7,624 passenger and SUVs for May 2019 were down by a whopping 17.8 per cent, or 1,652 units, on 2018 volumes, and commercial registrations of 4,635 were down 5.3 per cent compared to May 2018.

“The outturn for May indicates the market is softening, consistent with weaker regional vehicle sales in 2019 across Australia and New Zealand.”

Ford leads way with commercials

In the commercial sector, Ford retained its market lead with a 22 per cent market share, followed by Toyota on 17 per cent and Mitsubishi third with 11 per cent.

The Ford Ranger retained top spot as the best-selling commercial model with a 19 per cent share of the market on 878 units. It was followed by Toyota’s Hilux with 12 per cent and Mitsubishi’s Triton in third with 11 per cent and 514 units.

Year to date, the five top-selling models are all utes with the Ranger in the lead with 4,022 units, the Hilux on 2,788 and the Triton in third with 2,518. Next up is Holden’s Colorado with 1,986 units and the Nissan Navara on 1,623.

Toyota remains overall market leader

Toyota topped the ladder for sales of all new vehicles last month with a 15 per cent share of the market on 1,893 units. It was followed by Ford with 11 per cent and 1,337 units. Holden came third with eight per cent thanks to 1,002 sales.

Toyota was also the market leader for passenger and SUV registrations with a 14 per cent share on 1,086 units. It was followed by Mazda with nine per cent, or 707 units, and Hyundai on nine per cent and 688 units.

Toyota's RAV4 topped the top-selling passenger and SUV model list on 492 units, followed by Hyundai’s Tucson on 301 units, and the Mazda CX-5 with 224 units.