June may have seen the second highest volume of the year so far for both new cars and new commercial vehicles, but there are signs that the New Zealand new vehicle market has reached a plateau after five years of unbroken growth, according to the country’s Motor Industry Association (MIA).
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The MIA said June is traditionally a strong month, and, while commercial vehicle sales of 2,599 were virtually the same as June 2005 and 2004, new car sales of 6,392 were considerably down on the equivalent month in the previous two years. June 2005 (7,713) was in fact the best month for new car sales in the last 17 years.
New car sales for the half year are 0.4% down on the equivalent period for 2005, while year to date new commercial sales are 5.7% down. This is the first time in five years that the new vehicle market has not been running ahead of the previous year.
“The new vehicle market is adjusting to some of the pressures that have been building up since late 2005,” said MIA CEO Perry Kerr. “The price of fuel, together with the forecast of softer economic growth, is having an effect on purchasing patterns, but we see it as a market adjustment rather than a doom and gloom situation. There’s still plenty of confidence out there, and the threat of the falling New Zealand dollar affecting [reducing or stabilising] prices will remain an incentive.”
Toyota [1,848 units; 20.55% market share] took a huge step ahead of traditional rival Ford [1,361; 15.144%] in June to consolidate its position at the top of the market [8,998 cars and commercials; 18.24%], while GM Holden’s Commodore [243] and Ford Australia’s Falcon [242] finished an uncustomary third and fourth in the individual model stakes for the month, behind Toyota’s Corolla [319] and Ford’s Mondeo [262].
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