Car sales were strong in March. There were 11,626 new cars registered in the month plus another 9,681 used imports.
But the strength was in the new vehicles. New car sales rose +4% from the same month a year ago to be only -2% below the all-time record high in September 2021.
And driving that is the growth of electric and hybrid vehicles. In March alone 48% of all new car sales were one of these new-energy vehicles (NEVs); 46% of those were pure electric.
Over the past year, they now account for 40% of all car sales, a new high watermark for that segment. And more than that, pure electric cars account for almost 40% of all NEVs over the past year, also a new high.
None of this shift is at the expense of SUV's. Most NEVs are also SUVs. The SUV category now dominates with an 80% market share across all new car sales.
March got a boost because of a large shipment of Teslas, especially the SUV Model Y. That enabled this car to be the top selling passenger car of the month.
March also got a boost from the build-back of rental car fleets, although they remain a long way lower than pre-pandemic levels. 1474 or 12% of all March passenger car sales were to add to these rental fleets.
Infometrics noted that Government policies, such as the Clean Car Discount and Clean Car Standard schemes, continue to drive the shift towards newer, smaller, and lower-emissions vehicles. Trends towards these market segments have been ongoing for a year now, although these trends are likely to hit a ceiling at some point. Only a limited number of buyers will be willing or able to purchase newer, smaller, and lower-emissions vehicles, even with government incentives – not to mention practical limitations such as constrained supply or higher prices for these vehicle types.
If this ceiling is reached, the government might need to consider additional policies to further increase registrations of new, small, and low-emissions vehicles. However, after recently axing the proposed Clear Car Upgrade scheme, further incentives look more unlikely for now.
One segment that is now really struggling is used imports. Although they sold 9681 vehicles in March, that was -60% lower than the record high level from March a year ago (which was boosted by a rush to beat new regulations). The annualised rate of sales for used imports has dropped to just 90,300, and this is its lowest since July 2013. It was at an annual rate of 137,000 in March 2022, but that is well lower than the all-time highest annual rate of 166,000 in 2017. It is a sector that has faded markedly over the past year.
Another segment is struggling too - the commercial vehicle segment. Sales were down more than -50% in March from year-ago levels for new vehicles, down more than -70% for commercial used imports. New commercial vehicle sales are are about to go below 40,000 annual rate, a level they haven't been at since 2016 (pandemic excepted).
New vehicles sold
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25 Comments
1) this doesn't sound like people are struggling financially (not yet anyway)
2) it's a shame the government is removing the clean car rebate, it's good for NZ to have newer, cleaner, quieter vehicles on the road
3) there's a picture of a topless guy in front of the car because….?
2) it's a shame the government is removing the clean car rebate, it's good for NZ to have newer, cleaner, quieter vehicles on the road
They aren't, it was the clean car upgrade scheme that got scrapped. The clean car discount levels are likely to be reduced, or the fee on dirty cars increased to balance out the cashflow, so if you are planning on buying either, do it now.
Gen 1 Leafs are notorious for battery issues.
It's rare to have an electric car make financial sense. I guess if you had a cheap leaf and a short commute, maybe.
Then again you get a lot of fuel for the difference for an econobox beater, with better range options.
Gen 1 Leafs are also a technology from 2009 - 2010. Tech moves pretty fast in a decade - compare the Galaxy S9 with the Pre-Galaxy Samsungs. In short, it's not going to tell you a lot, is it? The Leaf was also a $60K car when it was launched - $60K buys you a lot of car these days.
I worked out 350km a week instead of paying for 95 and running costs on a high-mileage car I had to replace anyway for family reasons as being the sweet spot. Not so much the distance (more tends to be better) but time spent in traffic was the killer on fuel economy, even compared to a low displacement motor. From that point on, the more trips you can drive it vs a petrol car, the shorter your payback period got.
Plenty can afford EVs, haven't you seen the sales numbers? I'll give you a hint, there are some at the top of this page.
And Tesla has just dropped prices again, they are getting cheaper. Model 3 in your driveway for <$60k after the rebate. Model Y under $65k after rebate.
You mean the Tesla that, according to witnesses, had a tyre failure that caused a fire that spread to the rest of the car when the driver kept going? That had nothing to do with it being an EV?
Meanwhile, in the Supercars on the weekend, two separate Mustangs from two separate teams melted themselves, and they had to abandon grid starts because they didn't know what was causing the problem.
Anyone here use an EV as a successful tradie vehicle? ie enough work within your local area and enough capacity to travel to suppliers, tow trailers etc when needed.
I'm about to purchase a replacement trade vehicle and struggle to see a way around diesel in the short term.
...maybe I need to start working from home?.
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