EVs cushion blow of July’s soft new vehicle registrations

A shipment of Tesla Model Ys and Model 3s has landed too late to make July’s EV registrations but will help August figures.

Meanwhile, 544 new light and six heavy battery electric vehicles (BEVs) were registered in July, with top selling models the Peugeot e-208 (92 units), the Polestar 2 (80 units) and the Kia EV6 (40 units), according to the Motor Industry Association (MIA).

Registrations of plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) were steady with 635 units registered for the month, best selling models including the Mitsubishi Outlander (280 units), the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross (164 units) and the Hyundai Ioniq (35 units), MIA adds.

About 1773 hybrids were registered in July, top sellers being the Toyota RAV4 (530 units), the Toyota Highlander (227 units) and the Toyota Yaris (123 units).

MIA chief executive David Crawford says that 11,101 registrations of new vehicles for the month of July shows the market is significantly softer compared to July 2021 due to rising living costs, high fuel prices, continued vehicle supply constraints and a weakening New Zealand economy.

He expects Clean Car Discount taxes could keep new commercial vehicle registrations subdued.

More about the Tesla shipment will come later.