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Strong sales in December

Final month of 2021 sets a new record as Ford’s Ranger secures the honour of top New Zealand model.
Posted on 06 January, 2022
Strong sales in December

The Motor Industry Association says 12,097 sales of new vehicles last month made it the strongest December on record. 

Registrations climbed by 44.3 per cent – or by 3,714 units – on the same month in 2020. Of that total, 7,561 were passenger vehicles and 4,536 were commercials.

Ford’s Ranger, pictured, was December’s top model with 778 units. It was followed by the Mitsubishi Triton with 757, Toyota’s Hilux on 644 and Tesla’s Model 3 with 619 units.

Toyota was last month’s top marque with a market share of 21 per cent and market 2,526 registrations. Next up was Mitsubishi with 14 per cent and 1,699 units, with Ford third on nine per cent and 1,076.

For the month of December, the top segment was medium SUVs with a market share of 19 per cent, followed by SUV compacts on 17 per cent and pick up/chassis cab 4x4s with 16 per cent. 

Toyota topped the ladder for passenger cars and SUVs with a 19 per cent market share and 1,474 units, followed by Mitsubishi with 12 per cent and 907 units, with Hyundai on nine per cent and 649 units. 

The best-selling models in this part of the market for December were the Model 3 on 619 units, Toyota’s RAV 4 with 533 and the Mitsubishi Outlander on 509.

For the month of December, Toyota regained the lead with a market share 23 per cent and 1,052 units. Ford came second with 18 per cent and 824. Mitsubishi was third with 17 per cent market share and 792.

There were 1,133 light and 10 heavy BEVs registered in December. The top model was the Model 3 with 619 sales, followed by Hyundai’s Kona and Ioniq 5 with 138 and 70 respectively.

Last month saw 149 PHEVs registered. The top three were the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross with 40 units, MG HS on 39 units and Toyota’s Prius with 22 units.

Hybrids continued their consistent strength with 1,235 units registered during December.