Record new-vehicle sales in August bumped the Hyundai Santa Fe out of the top five spot as the race for the best-selling passenger cars of 2013 heated up.
The Santa Fe had been the year’s third best-seller at the end of July, but August saw it slide from third to seventh and replaced in the top five by the Holden Cruze.
Hyundai, however, remains the third most popular passenger car brand in New Zealand so far in 2013, after Toyota and Holden.
The winner has already been decided – the Toyota Corolla’s 3128 sales after eight months puts it more than 1000 units ahead of the second-placed Suzuki Swift.
The Swift itself pretty much has a stranglehold on second place going into the last four months of the year. It had sold 2100 units after eight months, or 458 ahead of third-placed Holden Commodore.
In fourth and fifth place respectively were the Toyota RAV4 crossover and Holden Cruze line-up. RAV4 sales were 1614 at the end of August against the Cruze’s 1598.
Sales of new vehicles to the end of last month were up 10.7 per cent on the same period last year, according to Motor Industry Association figures.
August sales alone were particularly strong. Commercial sales (2602) were the highest since 1984, partly because of the Christchurch rebuild. Passenger cars (6828) were up 14.5 per cent over the same month last year and the highest August since 1987.
Year-to-date commercial sales are up 24.4 per cent on last year; passenger cars are up 6.1 per cent. Overall sales of 73,279 units compare with 66,200 at the same time last year.
David Crawford, the chief executive officer of the MIA, said: “The new car sector continues to perform at levels last seen in the 1980s.”
Toyota dominated August numbers with 17.8 per cent of the market (1683 sales) followed by Holden with 11.3 per cent (1067), and Ford 11.0 per cent (1041).
Toyota was the market leader after eight months with a 19.3 per cent share (14,176 sales). Ford was second with 10.9 per cent (7961) followed by Holden with 10.2 per cent (7506).
The best-selling car in August was the Corolla (328), followed by the Cruze (271), Commodore (247), Volkswagen Golf (234) and Swift (214).
The Ford Ranger topped the commercial segment with 392 sales, ahead of Toyota Hilux (376), Nissan Navara (290), Toyota Hiace (210) and Holden Colorado (187).
Top 10 passenger cars year to date
| 1 | Toyota Corolla | 3128 |
| 2 | Suzuki Swift | 2100 |
| 3 | Holden Commodore | 1642 |
| 4 | Toyota Rav4 | 1614 |
| 5 | Holden Cruze | 1598 |
| 6 | Holden Captiva | 1580 |
| 7 | Hyundai Santa Fe | 1537 |
| 8 | Toyota Yaris | 1440 |
| 9 | Mazda CX-5 | 1365 |
| 10 | Volkswagen Golf | 1056 |
Top 10 commercials year to date
| 1 | Toyota Hilux | 3196 |
| 2 | Ford Ranger | 2967 |
| 3 | Nissan Navara | 1988 |
| 4 | Holden Colorado | 1532 |
| 5 | Toyota Hiace | 1508 |
| 6 | Mazda BT-50 | 910 |
| 7 | Mitsubishi Triton | 898 |
| 8 | Mitsubishi L300 | 560 |
| 9 | Volkswagen Amarok | 557 |
| 10 | Isuzu D-Max | 519 |