Kiwis Still Love Big Cars

Kiwis Still Love Big Cars

New Zealand’s love affair with the big car is far from over, according to third quarter sales figures from Turners Auctions.

The Holden Commodore has taken over from the Subaru Legacy as the most popular model sold through Turners, the nation’s largest vehicle auction house.

Overall sales of cars with a cc rating of 2 litres or more have increased by 4.5% while cars with a cc rating of less than 2.1L have experienced a decline in sales with 1.3L and 1.6L cars experiencing a 2.6% drop.

Regardless of rising fuel prices, people seem to be changing their perception of large cars as gas guzzlers, says Turners General Manager Marketing Todd Hunter.

Rapidly rising fuel prices earlier this year impacted on the sales of big cars as buyers opted for smaller models.

However the advice from Turners was that big cars are good value, and not the gas guzzlers they are often made out to be.

“We’ve been telling our customers all year to buy big cars – and it appears they’ve taken our advice.

“When you consider that prices on larger vehicles significantly plunged as buyers opted for smaller models, and compare the savings you make against high petrol prices – which now tend to be dropping - it’s clear that you’re actually going to spend less if you purchase a bigger car.

“While we can’t deny that fewer cars are being sold in the market, it is the smaller cars that have suffered the biggest decline,” says Mr Hunter.

Toyota continues to dominate the used car market with 19.2% of total market share, down 3% in the past year.

The average vehicle value has declined significantly when compared to the same period last year from $6518 to $6329 per unit.

ENDS

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