April saw a collapse in the New Zealand new vehicle market of even greater magnitude than what has been experienced in major overseas markets, a trade group 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.
New car sales of 3,525 (27.3% down on March 2009 and 36.5% lower than April 2008), represented the lowest for the month for at least 35 years, the Motor Industry Association said. New commercial vehicle sales fared slightly better. The 1,204 registrations in April were 23% down on March and 40.5% down on April last year. It was the lowest April for commercials since 2001.
Year to date combined sales for new cars and commercial vehicles, at 22,740, were 33% down on the same period last year, a sales rate which hasn’t been seen since before the sustained upturn which started in the late ’90s.
“The new vehicle market is certainly experiencing challenging times,” said MIA CEO Perry Kerr. “But hopefully we are now past the worst if overseas experience is anything to go by, as market declines in other countries have levelled out over the last two or three months.”
Toyota continued to lead both the passenger and commercial vehicle markets and its Corolla is opening up a lead over GM Holdens’s Commodore as the country’s largest selling vehicle model.
