The record 21,044 new vehicles registered with the NZ Transport Agency in March was the end result of a motoring industry move to avoid the first stage of the Coalition Government’s tax axe on petrol and diesel engines. It was driven largely by distributors and dealers first registering vehicles to themselves. Nothing new in that, except it took on new urgency a month … [Read more...] about New vehicle regos go through roof ahead of Gov’t tax axe
Car sales
Slump in car sales takes $20m a month out of industry pockets
The new vehicle industry in New Zealand is heading for its first annual sales slump since the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) bit deep 10 years ago. Registrations of new cars and commercials at the end of August were down 5.1% on the same eight-month period last year, the first sign in a decade that the car market – long this country’s economic barometer – is feeling some … [Read more...] about Slump in car sales takes $20m a month out of industry pockets
Kia, Suzuki big improvers in January sales sleight-of-hand
Record January registrations in New Zealand point to the usual end-of-year sleight of hand, where many vehicles sold in the last month of the year aren’t registered until the first month of the next year. That way an unregistered 2016-year vehicle bought in December, for example, appears on the NZ Transport Agency books as first registered in January 2017. It therefore … [Read more...] about Kia, Suzuki big improvers in January sales sleight-of-hand
SUVs and light trucks keep NZ sales humming along
Registrations of SUVs and light trucks in New Zealand continue to dominate a new vehicle market that shows no signs of slowing down. The best-selling passenger cars in February were SUVs and the best-selling vehicles overall were light trucks. The Kia Sportage (above) and Mazda CX-3 topped the monthly car segment with sales of 236 units each, and the Ford Ranger (582), … [Read more...] about SUVs and light trucks keep NZ sales humming along
Historic shift in sales – Mercedes-Benz leads premium passenger segment for first time
There is nothing new in sales of utes and SUVs continuing to dominate the new car market in New Zealand, but there is an historic shift happening in the premium passenger car sector – and that’s the emergence of Mercedes-Benz as the front-runner. Heading towards the second half of 2015, Benz leads BMW and Audi in sales of passenger cars, according to Motor Industry … [Read more...] about Historic shift in sales – Mercedes-Benz leads premium passenger segment for first time