2016 was a Stunning Year for New Vehicle Sales

Media Release

10 January 2017

2016 was a Stunning Year for New Vehicle Sales

David Crawford, Chief Executive Officer of the Motor Industry Association says “While many are writing off 2016 as a year to forget, for the new vehicle sector it was annus mirabilis, a wonderful year. The new vehicle market for 2016 performed significantly beyond expectations and along the way exceeded every single previous record. Final registration data reveals 146,753 registrations during the year, an impressive 9.5% up on the 2015 total of 134,041 registrations, the third record year in a row. It was also another record month of December (fourth year in a row) with registrations up 9.5% (11,225 vehicles) compared to December 2015 (10,245 vehicles).”

Toyota remained the overall market leader for the month of December with 26 percent market share (2,917 vehicles) albeit boosted by strong rental sales, followed by Holden with 9 percent (1,030 vehicles) and Ford also with 9 percent market share (965 vehicles). For the 2016 year Toyota (18%), Ford (11%), Holden (10%), Mazda (8%) and Mitsubishi (6%) respectively were the top five overall market leaders.

New passenger and SUV registrations of 8,069 vehicles in December were up 960 units (13.5%) on December 2015 sales of 7,109 vehicles. Toyota remained the market leader for passenger and SUV vehicles with a massive 29% market share (2,344 vehicles), followed by Holden with 10% (776 vehicles) and Mazda with 9% market share (714 vehicles). For the 2016 year Toyota, Holden and Mazda were the passenger and SUV vehicle market leaders.

For the month of December, Toyota passenger and SUV models took the top four market positions with the Toyota Corolla being the top selling model (905 vehicles) followed by the Toyota RAV4 (568 vehicles), the Toyota Highlander (349 vehicles) and the Toyota Yaris (298 vehicles). Overall the passenger and SUV market for 2016 was the strongest ever with 102,514 registrations, breaking a long-standing record dating back to 1973 when 97,346 passenger vehicles were sold.

New commercial vehicle registrations of 3,156 vehicles in December were up marginally (20 vehicles) compared to December 2015. However, full year commercial vehicle registrations were up 5,157 units (13%) on 2015 with a new record of 44,239 commercial vehicles sold in 2016. Ford was the commercial vehicle leader for the month of December with 18% market share (578 vehicles), followed by Toyota also with 18 percent (573 vehicles) and Holden and Mitsubishi both with 8% market share (254 vehicles).

For the month of December, the Ford Ranger was the top selling commercial vehicle model with 531 vehicles registered, followed by the Toyota Hilux with 406 vehicles and the Mitsubishi Triton with 254 vehicles. The Ford Ranger not only retained its position as the bestselling commercial model for 2016, it also retained the top model spot of any model for 2016.

Boosted by strong rental sales the Toyota Corolla was the top selling model for the month of December with 905 vehicles, followed by the Toyota RAV4 with 568 vehicles and the Ford Ranger with 531 vehicles. For the full 2016 year, the Ford Ranger retained its position as the bestselling model with 8,478 vehicles followed by the Toyota Corolla with 6,274 vehicles and then closely followed by the Toyota Hilux with 6,187 vehicles.

“The 2016 record year marked a continued shift in buyer preference and market dynamics with for the first time in New Zealand history more SUV’s being sold than passenger vehicles. SUV’s accounted for 36% of the market (52,913 vehicles) compared to 35% for all other passenger vehicles (51,552) and 29% for commercial vehicles.” said Mr Crawford.

ENDS.

Sheet 1: Detailed figures for top 15 distributors, full year 2015, month of December 2016 and year to date 2016, total vehicles, new cars and new commercials.

Sheet 2: Detailed figures for top 15 selling models - passenger cars and commercials- full year 2015, December 2016 and year to date 2016.

Sheet 3: MIA segmentation full year 2015, December 2016 and year to date 2016.

Registration_data_1975_onwards.xlsx
December_2016_Sales_Table.xls

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