NZ Sales: Utes drive solid July performance

NEW ZEALAND Motor Industry Association (MIA) data shows commercial vehicle sales have assisted in creating what it calls a “positive performance” across the month of July.

The number of commercial vehicles sold (3532 light- and 504 heavy commercial vehicles) in July helped to uplift New Zealand new-car sales totals to 11,671 units for the month, up 23.8 per cent on the same time last year when just 9419 new vehicles were sold.

Strong sellers for the year’s seventh month include the Toyota HiLux (868 unit sales) and Ford Ranger (838 units). The BYD Shark 6 dropped from its June position to register just 256 unit sales, falling from third to fifth place behind the Nissan Navara (416 units) and Mitsubishi Triton (256 units).

Unfortunately, sales of passenger cars and SUVs (combined as Light Passenger Vehicles locally) fell from 8245 units in June to just 7635 units in July.

Of those, the Toyota RAV4 continues to lead the pack with 602 unit sales ahead of the all-new Suzuki Fronx (347 units) and third-place Mitsubishi Outlander (307 units).

Across motive power types, the MIA noted a decrease in the number of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) registered in July, falling to 638 units from a high of 1073 units last month.

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) recorded 749 unit sales against 912 units the month prior, while hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) continued their run of increases with 3434 sales compared with 3152 in June.

“It has been a challenging 18 months for our members in tight economic conditions, so it is good to see July sales holding steady with the June increase,” said MIA chief executive officer Aimee Wiley.

“It’s a sign that there may be some early signs of confidence returning to the new vehicle market, but it’s probably too soon to break out the champagne just yet.”

Top 10 sales by Make (July passenger, SUV and light commercial)*:

Top 10 sales by Model (July passenger and SUV)*:

Top 10 sales by Model (July light commercial)*:

*All figures are supplied courtesy of the Motor Industry Association of New Zealand.