SUVs dominate Kiwi market

Sales of medium-sized SUVs dominated the country’s new-car sector in 2022. They accounted for 34.2 per cent of light-vehicle registrations with 39,668 units – up from a market share of 26.9 per cent in 2021.

Next up were small SUVs with 33,326 registrations – down from 33.6 per cent to 28.7 per cent over the same timescale.

Large SUVs took out third spot with 11.4 per cent thanks to 13,213 units. Their market share dropped slightly from 12.5 per cent.

Light passenger vehicles came fourth with 11,553 sales to claim 10 per cent, which was up from 8.6 per cent year on year.

The top five was completed by small passenger vehicles. They dropped from 8.4 to 6.3 per cent with 7,316 registrations.

Sales by segments

Looking at different segments of New Zealand’s market last year, registrations of new passenger vehicles came in at 28,316. That was down from 28,539, or by 0.8 per cent, in 2021.

As for SUVs, they climbed by 5.5 per cent from 83,068 to 87,669 over the same period, reports the Motor Industry Association.

There were 40,948 new light commercials sold last year – down by 11.8 per cent from 46,404.

Registrations of models in pick-up/chassis cab 4x2 segment tumbled from 11,839 to 8,954, or by 24.4 per cent. Those in the 4x4 category fared somewhat better with a 1.9 per cent drop from 26,594 to 26,102.

Sales of new vans nosedived by 27.2 per cent from 7,601 in 2021 to 5,532 in 2022, while the heavy commercial vehicle market climbed by 16.1 per cent from 6,073 to 7,049 units.

Buyer categories

In 2022, there were 156,993 new light vehicles registered in New Zealand. That was down by 0.6 per cent when compared to 158,011 in 2021.

Of those, 63,632 went to private buyers – down by 12 per cent on the previous year. Some 71,635 units were bought by businesses – up by 1.8 per cent, 5,459 were government purchases – up by 12.8 per cent and 16,207 were rentals for an increase of 54.9 per cent.