New vehicle sales in New Zealand fell in 2019 for the first time since 2009, the local Motor Industry Association said.
Sales were down 4.3% year on year to 154,479 units.
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December 2019 registrations rose just 0.1% over December 2018 to 11,160 vehicles registered.
MIA CEO David Crawford said: "As expected, for 2019 the market was down… on 2018.
"It is the first time since 2009, the height of the global financial crisis, that we have seen a year on year drop in new vehicle registrations and comes after five consecutive record years [2014 to 2018]."
Registrations of 8,159 passenger vehicles and SUVs for December 2019 were up 6.2% year on year.
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By GlobalDataCommercial vehicle registrations were down (13.5%) for a third consecutive month to 3,001 last month.
The top models in December were the Toyota Corolla (907 units), the RAV4 (747) and the Ford Ranger (473 ).
Toyota led market share in December with 31% followed by Mitsubishi (9%) and Holden (7%).
Toyota also led for the full year with a 20% share followed by Ford (10%), Mitsubishi and Holden (both 8%).
Purchasing patterns ended the year as it started with the market dominated by sales of utes (pickup trucks). But, as the last quarter unfolded, it was this sector had begun to decline.
The MIA noted Toyota's RAV4, only introduced to the NZ market (and Australia) with the latest model update, had almost immediately become the top selling Kiwi hybrid model.
