The record for New Zealand new vehicle registrations has been broken!

8th Dec 2016

Month after month we have been reporting on the tally of new vehicle registrations in New Zealand. This time, we bring you more exciting news, as last year’s total new vehicle registrations of 134,234 has been exceeded by 135,714 registrations in the 11 months of 2017 thus far. With December’s new vehicle registrations traditionally being lower than November, exactly where the New Zealand vehicle market finishes is anyone’s guess. Let’s not overlook the individual performance of November, registering 13,740 vehicles which is the third highest month on record and actually the best performance in November the MIA started collecting data in 1975.

Motor Industry Association chief executive officer David Crawford says the huge number of new vehicle registrations is a direct result of New Zealand’s economic environment. “The market is responding to strong net immigration, low cost of debt, strong regional economies, and a high level of business confidence. It is expected these favourable economic conditions will continue into 2017”, he says.

The record for passenger vehicles is the next to fall as last year saw 95,099 new registrations, this year at the end of November we currently sit at 94,578. November this year saw 9,722 new vehicle registrations so it could be a first that in one year we have over 100,000 passenger vehicle registrations.

Brand Breakdown

It was a battle of the brands in November just like it has been for the year to date. Toyota registered the most vehicles in November (2280), followed by Holden (1,579), Ford (1,489), Mazda (969) and Mitsubishi rounds out the top five with 906 registrations. Wrapping up the top ten was Hyundai in sixth (808), Nissan seventh (737), Kia eighth (531), Suzuki ninth (483) and Volkswagen tenth with 436 registrations.

Mr Crawford said sports utility vehicles (SUVs) had been steadily climbing in popularity in the light vehicle market and registrations of them will overtake those of passenger vehicles for the first time over the year.

He said families were taking advantage of cheaper petrol prices and low-interest costs to buy SUVs which provided more space than the family sedan.

As you will see through the list of models which were popular in November, it’s clear that the days of a sedan body has been replaced by a ute, hatch or SUV. Whilst the ute’s success comes from the commercial side of vehicle registrations, the hatch and SUV interiors have developed so much in the last decade that these are being chosen for the family commuter.