March New Vehicle Sales Still in Growth Mode

5 April 2016

March New Vehicle Sales Still in Growth Mode

David Crawford, Chief Executive Officer of the Motor Industry Association says “Strong net immigration, competitive pricing and end of financial year deals drove strong new vehicles registrations in March 2016. There were 12,110 new vehicle registrations for the month, the strongest March result since 1984, which was 3% (355 units) up on March 2015.”

There were 3,919 commercial vehicle registrations for the month of March, up strongly on March 2015 (6.5% / 239 units) and was the strongest month of March on record for commercial vehicles registrations. Year to date, the commercial vehicle market is 9.6% (876 units) ahead of this time in 2015.

There were 8,191 passenger vehicle registrations for the month of March, up slightly (1.4% / 116 units) on March 2015. It was the strongest March passenger vehicle result since 1989.

Toyota was the overall market leader for the month of March with 15% market share (1,850 units), followed by Ford with 10% (1,261 units) and Mitsubishi with 8% overall market share (1,029 units).

For the second month in a row, the top three selling models for the month of March were light commercial vehicles. These were the Ford Ranger with 5% overall market share (661 units), followed by the Toyota Hilux also with 5% (601 units) and the Mitsubishi Triton with 4% market share (462 units).

Toyota remains the market leader for passenger vehicles with 12% market share (999 units), followed by Mazda with 10% (816 units) and Hyundai with 9% market share (731 units). The Suzuki swift was the top selling passenger model for the month of March with 4% market share (304 units), closely followed by the Toyota Corolla also with 4% market share (302 units) and the Mazda CX-5 with 3% passenger market share (242 units).

Toyota regained top spot for the commercial market for the month of March with 22% market share (851 units), followed by Ford with 19% (752 units) and Mitsubishi third with 12% market share (462 units). The Ford Ranger retained its position as the monthly top selling commercial model for March with 17% market share (661 units) followed by the Toyota Hilux with 15% (601 units) and the Mitsubishi Triton with 12% market share (462 units). Year to date the Ford Ranger maintains a healthy lead over the Toyota Hilux with 1,904 registrations (19%) for the Ranger and 1,345 registrations (13%) for the Hilux.

Reflecting the top selling models for the month of March, the Pick Up/Chassis Cab 4x4 segment took 13% of the market (1,543 units) followed by the SUV Medium segment with 12% market share (1491 units) and the light passenger segment also with 12% market share (1413 units).

“The month of March continued the overall strong performance of the new vehicle sector over the last three years. With the first quarter of 2016 done and dusted the new vehicle market is 3% (1,017 units) ahead of the first quarter outturn for 2015.” said Mr Crawford.

ENDS.

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