New vehicle registrations for October crash through all previous records to set new highs

Monthly new vehicle registrations crashed through the 14,000 barrier for the first time ever in October. A number of other records were broken too.

President of the Motor Industry Association John Manley says  the 14,709 new vehicles for the month of October surpassed the previous highest month way back in July 1984 when 13,983 units were registered.

“New vehicle sales are a barometer of businesses and consumer’s confidence in the economy," Manley said.

"The record sales for the month of October indicates that there is a strong level of confidence in the performance of the New Zealand economy.”

The new record figure was some 16% up on the figure recorded for October 2015.

The composition of the vehicles in the latest month was 10,795 passenger and SUV vehicle registrations and 3,914 commercial vehicle registrations.

The passenger figure was actually a new monthly record for that category too, while passenger vehicle registrations in the 12 months ended October edged past the 100,000 mark - also a first for a 12-month period.

Toyota was the overall market leader for the month of October with 22% market share (3,287 units) with Holden second on 13% (1,866 units) and Ford third with 11% (1,624 units).

Toyota remains the passenger car and SUV market leader for the month of October with 23% share (2,468 units), with Holden second on 14% (1,490 units) and Mazda third with 8% (912 units). Ford retained the commercial vehicle market with 21% share (839 units) followed by Toyota also with 21% (819 units) and Holden third with 10% (376 units).

The Toyota Corolla was the top selling passenger model for the month of October with 11% market share (1,210 units), followed by the Toyota Yaris on 3% (362 units) and the Holden Commodore on 3% (356 units).

The Ford Ranger is again the monthly top selling commercial model for October with 20% market share (768 units). The Toyota Hilux was the second best commercial model with 13% market share (512 units) with the Holden Colorado at 9% (345 units).  Year to date the Ford Ranger stretches its lead as the top selling commercial model with 19% market share (7,173 units) followed by the Toyota Hilux, with 14% market share (5,299 units).

The passenger segments have 38% for the month of October, followed by the SUV segments with 35% of vehicle registrations and the light commercial segments with 26% share.