New vehicle sales in August show lift

New vehicle sales in August show lift

Registration data just released by NZ Transport Agency shows that on the back of a good lift in sales of commercial vehicles, the overall new vehicle market for August was up more than 7 percent compared to July, and a healthy 17 percent over the same month last year.

The Motor Trade Association (MTA) today said that the lift was both welcome and expected. New passenger car sales of 4720 units were 6 percent ahead of July and 7 percent ahead of August 2010. Commercial sales of 1717 units however, were 11 percent ahead of July and a full 60 percent ahead of the same month last year.

For 2010 so far, sales of new passenger cars are 14 percent ahead of 2009, while commercial vehicle sales have been even stronger and are up 16 percent over the same period in 2009.

MTA spokesperson Ian Stronach, Marketing and Communications General Manager said “With the impending lift in GST, there had been an expectation in the market that August sales would show a bounce-back over July, and that’s pretty much what has happened. On that basis, we expect sales to remain firm through September as buyers seek to secure deals at the most advantageous rate.”

Toyota remained in first place in the passenger car market with sales of 686 units and a 14.5 percent market share. Ford held on to second spot with sales of 516 units and a 10.9 percent share. Following in third spot was Mazda with sales of 480 units and a 10.1 percent share, followed by Holden with sales of 454 units and 9.6 percent share, with fifth spot again going to Hyundai with sales of 395 units and an 8.3 percent share of the market.

Toyota (16.7 percent) remains the clear new passenger car market leader for the year to date, ahead of Holden (10.4 percent), who are still narrowly ahead of Ford (10.1 percent).

Toyota Corolla took back the top spot in terms of individual model sales with 224 units. Suzuki Swift was in second place on 208 units. Mazda’s Mazda6 this time took out third spot with 177units, heading off Ford Falcon on 163 units in fourth with Mazda3 taking fifth spot with 159 units.

While down slightly (5 percent) compared to what was a particularly strong July, the used import car market has maintained the growth that has been evident throughout the year. August registrations of 7530 units were the third highest for the year and up 28 percent over August 2009. For the year to date, used import passenger vehicle registrations are up 38 percent compared to the same time last year.

Road registered motorcycle sales shrugged off some of the slump of recent times with sales of 458 units, the highest in four months. While these figures are 19 percent ahead of July, they are 17 percent below the same month last year. On a year to date basis, the motorcycle market is down by 22 percent.

ENDS