Strong sales of commercial vehicles in two of New Zealand’s largest cities boosted June volume to its highest level in 31 years, according to the head of the local new vehicle industry lobby group.
“Commercial vehicle registrations remain extraordinarily strong with monthly registrations of 3,181 vehicles. This was the strongest June sales since 1982,” David Crawford, CEO of New Zealand’s Motor Industry Association said.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
Year to date commercial registrations of 14,754 were 3,050 units (26%) ahead of sales in June 2012 (11,704 registrations), the MIA said in its monthly report.
“This reflects the strong housing market in Auckland and the [post-earthquake] Christchurch rebuild, providing business confidence to the trade sector.”
New passenger car registrations of 7,542 vehicles in June were the strongest since 2005 (7,713 registrations). Year to date passenger vehicle registrations of 39,781 vehicles were 1,636 (4.3%) ahead year on year.
Toyota remained market leader last month with a 21.9% market share and 2,350 registrations (1,433 cars and 917 commercials). Ford was second with 11.3% market share (1,210), followed by General Motors’ Holden with 10.2% (1,097).
The top selling model in June was the Toyota Corolla with 416 registrations followed by the Toyota RAV4 (343) and Hyundai Santa Fe (312).
In the commercial segment the Toyota Hilux was the top selling model with 665 registrations, followed by the Ford Ranger (416) and Nissan Navara (286).
The Hilux (2,449) and Ford Ranger (2,197) were the two top selling commercial models year to date.
The SUV segment dominated June with 29% of total registrations and 28% year to date. Pickup/chassis segment models accounted for 22% last month and 19% year to date.
Total vehicle registrations for 2012 were 100,795 and the year to date tally at the half-year mark was 54,475, reflecting a stronger new vehicle sector in 2013.
“With a strong New Zealand dollar and economic confidence in our two largest cities we are on track to sell more than 100,000 new vehicles for the year,” Crawford said.
