New vehicle sales maintain good pace in February

Media Release 6 March 2012
New vehicle sales maintain good pace in February

Motor Trade Association (MTA) says the new vehicle market has maintained its healthy start to 2012 on the back of strong sales of passenger vehicles.

Commenting, MTA spokesperson Ian Stronach, Marketing and Communications General Manager said “February sales inevitably drop back after the start of the new year, and 2012 is no exception. However this has been the strongest February for new passenger vehicle sales in four years and is setting a strong tone for the balance of the year. The combination of aggressive marketing campaigns and the strong New Zealand dollar have provided a favourable environment for buyers.”

Last month 7,185 new vehicles were sold compared to 6,404 in February 2011, an increase of 781 units (12 percent). Year to date, overall sales are up by 1,939 units (14 percent).

The strong start to the year was led by new passenger car sales of 5,633 units which was up 789 units (16 percent) compared to February 2011.

New commercial vehicle sales of 1,552 units were 8 units (1 percent) behind February 2011.

Stronach said “Interestingly, while the trend to smaller engine four cylinder models remains, February saw a wider range of types and models figuring amongst the individual best sellers. While cost efficiency remains paramount amongst buyers, there are obviously some who are still buying what they need rather than what is necessarily the smallest or most fuel economical.”

In a more compressed race for market leadership this time, Toyota was the top passenger vehicle brand with sales of 772 units (14 percent) followed by Holden with sales of 620 units (11 percent) who just headed off Hyundai on 600 units (10 percent).

Suzuki Swift with 331 sales was the top individual passenger vehicle, followed by Toyota Corolla with 272 sales and Hyundai i30 with 209 sales. Providing something of a break from small and medium sized four cylinder cars, Holden’s Captiva with 182 sales and Commodore models with 174 sales rounded out the top five sellers.

Toyota was the top selling brand amongst commercial vehicles with sales of 401 units (26 percent) followed by Nissan with 198 sales (13 percent), just ahead of Ford on 197 sales (13 percent).

The top selling commercial model was again Toyota Hilux with 251 sales, followed by Nissan Navara with 189 sales and Toyota Hiace with 139 sales.

Sales of first time used imported passenger cars were down 527 units (8 percent) compared to February 2011. As had been widely forecast, in the face of restricted availability of qualifying vehicles, overall sales for the year to date are down by 1,220 units (9 percent).

Larger (over 60 cc) on road motorcycles helped inch the overall market up to 556 units, just 2 units ahead of February 2011. Encouragingly though, year to date, overall sales are up by 109 units
(10 percent).

Figures provide by the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA).

© Scoop Media