In only two of the last 30 years have April new car sales been higher than March (end of the financial year), and 2006 was no exception, according to the Motor Industry Association (MIA), which represents new car importers.
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“A short selling month and a very strong March saw new car sales reduce to 5,109 from March’s 7,114 but, more significantly, this figure was 7.4% down on April 2005 and was behind April 2004 as well,” the MIA said in its monthly review.
“New commercial vehicle sales of 1504 were 21.1% down on April 2004, confirming that economic conditions are starting to affect the business sector.”
However, due to public holidays, April 2006 had only 17 selling days compared with 20 in the same month in 2004 – this year’s daily selling rate was actually higher at 389 instead of 371.
Year to date to the end of April, new car sales were 4.2% higher at 24,482 than for the same period last year, but new commercial vehicles sales were off 6.3%.
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By GlobalData“It appears that the industry is starting to experience the predicted levelling out after its unbroken five year boom,” said MIA CEO Perry Kerr. “There’s no question that trading conditions are tougher, exemplified by the collapse in used [vehicle] import sales.”
Motor Trade Association communications manager Andy Cuming told the Fairfax newspaper group that growing strong sales of smaller cars were keeping the heat on sales rates for the year so far.
“If motorists are looking to change to a smaller car to save fuel costs it makes sense to do it sooner rather than later,” he said.
“This looks to be bringing forward buying decisions which means that there could be some offset later in the year.
“Overall, it is expected that 2006 sales would be on a par with 2005, which was the highest annual volume since 1989.”
Cuming added that the move to smaller cars was playing to the product strength of market leader, Toyota.
“This brand is well-placed to meet growing demand for more fuel-efficient cars across a range of models like Yaris, Corolla, and, of course, the Prius that has become a focus of attention in today’s world where all are looking for answers to the questions of spiralling fuel costs and vehicle emissions.”
So far this year, smaller car sectors are 22% up on 2005, the large car sector 10% down, while SUVs, offset by the introduction of popular smaller-engined models, are down by just 1%.
Used imported cars and commercial sales were down 26% (to 9,805) and 33% respectively in April.
Used imported car sales were 11% down year on year in the first four months of 2006.
Cuming considers that the additional number of used cars available due to the high volume of trade-ins on new cars is a contributing factor.
“This is compounded by competitive buying pressures in Japan for used cars restricting the availability of well-priced cars to match the expectations of New Zealand customers, now used to high value at good pricing in this sector,” he noted.
Toyota remains top new vehicle seller in New Zealand, with an 18.6% share of the market year to date. GM’s Australian unit Holden and Ford are vying for second, with 13.08% and 13.06% respectively.
Ford’s large Falcon beat its Commodore arch-rival by just one unit in April, but the Commodore remained the top selling model year to date, with Toyota’s Corolla second and the Falcon third.
