New vehicle market boom continues

New vehicle market boom continues

With 9356 new vehicles registered in New Zealand in October (7433 cars and 1923 commercials), the booming market shows no signs of abating. Milestones set in October included the following:

It was easily the strongest month of 2003 for new car sales, surpassing the previous highest month (September) by 7.5%. It was the best October for new car sales since 1984, and the best for commercial vehicle sales since 1990. With two months of the year to go, the 2003 new car market already exceeds the full year total for every year between 1997 and 2001. With two months of the year to go, the new commercial vehicle market already exceeds the full year total for every year between 1987 and 2001, with the exception of 1990.

Conservative projections indicate that the 2003 full year new car market will easily surpass that of 2002 (itself the best year since 1996) and will be the strongest since 1990. New commercial vehicles are on target to experience their best market since 1985.

The Motor Industry Association is welcoming what is now a sustained recovery in the new vehicle market. “The turnaround started in 1999 after the removal of tariffs on new vehicles the previous year, and gathered momentum as reduced depreciation fed into the used car market from 2002 onwards,” said Perry Kerr, CEO of the MIA. “It’s encouraging that all sectors of the new vehicle market are continuing to fire, from private purchasers to the rental sector.”

Toyota have consolidated their year to date lead in both passenger cars and commercials. In October, Ford in fact lost ground to both Holden and Mitsubishi, finishing fourth for the month in both passenger cars and total vehicles, but they are still in a strong second place year to date.

In the individual model stakes, Commodore has extended its lead over Falcon, while Mitsubishi Lancer is advancing rapidly up the charts (it actually took third place from Corolla in October).

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