Used-car imports tumble

The number of used-imported cars registered in New Zealand dropped by 31.9 per cent last month to 7,240, when compared with the 10,628 units in October 2021.

It takes the year-to-date total to 96,737, which is 4.9 per cent lower than the 101,721 units at the same stage a year ago.

The Toyota Aqua was the most popular model last month with 1,119 registrations – a 44 per cent increase from 777 units in October of last year – and a market share of 15.5 per cent.

Toyota’s Prius was second with 584 units and 8.1 per cent of the market, and its Corolla was fourth on 277 and 3.8 per cent.

Sandwiched in between those models was the Mazda Axela in third on 372 registrations and a 5.1 per cent market share, while Mazda’s Demio was fifth with 261 units and 3.6 per cent.

The Axela, pictured, was the only model in the top five to suffer a year-on-year drop in registrations, falling 19.1 per cent from 460 units in October 2021. 

In contrast, demand for the other models in the top five all increased by at least 44 per cent, with the Corolla making the biggest gain of 79.9 per cent from its 154 sales a year ago.

The Aqua is the clear leader in the year-to-date standings on 10,829 units and a market share of 11.2 per cent, followed by the Prius on 5,052 and 5.2 per cent.

Completing the top five for the first half of the year is the Axela on 4,165 registrations, the Nissan Leaf with 3,213 and Nissan’s X-Trail on 2,593.

Toyota was the top marque in October with 2,712 registrations for 37.5 per cent of the market. This was down 7.9 per cent from 2,946 in the same month of 2021. 

Mazda was the second most popular marque last month with 1,092 units, a market share of 15.1 per cent, and Nissan was third on 897 registrations, or 12.4 per cent. 

Year to date, Toyota leads the marques’ ladder with 31,086 registrations and a 32.1 per cent market share. Nissan is next on 13,663 and 14.1 per cent, with Mazda third on 12,574 and 13 per cent.