EVs up but annual new vehicle registrations drop

Pure new EVs rose to the top three in sales for 2019 following the Tesla Model 3s entry, the segment also continuing a modest rate of monthly registrations at 175 units for December.

About 35 new plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) and 692 hybrid vehicles also sold for the month, despite an overall drop in New Zealand new vehicle registrations of 4.3% (7007 units) year-on-year in 2019.

It’s the first annual drop in 10 years, and the result was “as expected”, Motor Industry Association (MIA) chief executive David Crawford says.

“It is the first time since 2009, the height of the global financial crisis, that we have seen a year-on-year drop in new vehicle registrations and comes after five consecutive record years (2014 to 2018),” Crawford says.

A total 154,763 new vehicles hit the roads in 2019 compared to 161,770 in 2018.

December 2019 registrations came in at 0.1% over December 2018 with 11,160 new vehicles registered, up just 10 units year-on-year.

Registration of 8159 passenger and SUVs for December 2019 were up 6.2% (479 units) on 2018 volumes.

Commercial vehicle registrations were down for a third consecutive month with a total of 3001 for December, down 13.5% (469 units) compared to December 2018.

The top two models in December were the Toyota Corolla (907 units), followed by the Toyota RAV4 (747 units) with the Ford Ranger third (473 units).

The market leaders for 2019 were Toyota with 20% share, followed by Ford with 10% share and Mitsubishi with 8% share, just ahead of Holden also with 8% share for the year.

For the year, the top passenger and SUV models were the Toyota Corolla (6804 units) followed by the Toyota RAV4 (5611 units) and the Mazda CX-5 (3312 units).

In commercial vehicle sales, the Ford Ranger was out in front for the year with 19% market share (9485 units) followed by the Toyota Hilux with 14% share (7126 units) and the Mitsubishi Triton in third with 11% share (5319 units).

The top three segments for December were once again SUV medium vehicles with 19% share followed by SUV compact with 18% market share and the pick-up/chassis 4×4 segment with 12%.

For the year, the SUV medium segment held onto top spot (19% share) followed by the pick-up/chassis cab 4×4 segment on 15% with the SUV compact segment quickly gaining ground also in 15% share.

The last quarter of 2019 showed sales of utes declining compared to the start of the year and for 2018.

The Toyota RAV4 hybrid, introduced into the market in March, quickly became New Zealand’s most popular hybrid vehicle.