Used imports in decline

There were 91,781 used cars imported into New Zealand during 2022, a drop of 29.5 per cent when compared with 130,196 in 2021. 

The total included 87,740 from Japan – down 28.9 per cent from 123,377, according to figures from New Zealand Customs. Meanwhile, Australia was the source for 2,358 units, falling 23.5 per cent from the previous year’s total, and 514 came from the UK, a drop of 59.2 per cent.

During December, 9,781 units crossed our wharves. This was a decrease of 9.1 per cent from 10,766 in the same month of 2021.

Monthly arrivals from Japan came in at 9,513. This was down from 10,255 in the same month of the previous year for a fall of 7.2 per cent.

In addition, 146 used cars were imported from Australia during December and 48 arrived from the UK. The totals for the US and Singapore were 46 and 15 respectively.

As for used light commercials, annual imports tumbled by 19.1 per cent to 3,985 in 2022. This compared to 4,928 such units during the previous year.

On a monthly basis, the number of units entering the country fell 23 per cent from 609 a year earlier to 303 in December 2022. 

However, last month’s figures were the second highest of the year – eclipsed only by 496 in August – and were up from 334 in November.

Japan market dominant

There were 115,892 new passenger vehicles imported in 2022, a decrease of just 1.8 per cent from the previous year’s tally of 117,997.

Of these, 50,712 came from Japan and 15,052 from South Korea. Other key markets for sourcing cars were China with 12,315, Thailand on 10,103 units, Belgium with 5,930 and Germany on 5,599.

The total for December was 9,936, which was 3.7 per cent lower than the 10,322 units in the same month a year earlier.

Japan supplied 3,358 new cars in December, with a further 1,245 shipped from South Korea, 1,038 from Thailand and 902 from China.

New light commercials tallied 33,804 last year, which was down 15.8 per cent from 40,160 in 2021. 

In December, 3,272 such units crossed our wharves, which was up from 2,490 in November.

The latest monthly tally represented a 44 per cent decrease from December 2021 when 5,844 new light commercials were imported.

Overall, 254,593 vehicles, including trucks and buses, crossed our border last year, a decrease of 15.5 per cent from 301,314 in 2021. The latest total included 24,141 units in December.