NZ new vehicle sales down but it’s a sweet September for Tesla

Tesla made it to the top 10 for the first time thanks to the Model 3 (above). Photo: Tesla

The ongoing global effect of Covid for the motoring industry continues to see low new vehicle registrations in New Zealand last month but for Tesla, it was a time to celebrate.

Motor Industry Association Chief Executive David Crawford says September 2020 registrations came in at 24.9 per cent  below September 2019 with 10,902 vehicles registered, down 3623 units in the same month last year. 

“Year to date the market is down 23.8 per cent, which is consistent with recent months data confirming our expectations that 2020 will finish about 25 per cent down on 2019 volumes,” he said.

Toyota remains the overall market leader with 15 per cent market share (1623 units), followed by Ford with 9 per cent (994 units) and Mitsubishi in third spot also with 9 per cent market share (978 units). 

Toyota was the market leader for passenger and SUV registrations with 16 per cent market share (1217 units) followed by Kia with 10 percent (801 units) and then Suzuki with 8 per cent market share (625 units). 

Tesla made it into the top 10 for the first time with 158 units registered for the month, including 139 Model 3 cars.

Overall, in September there were 243 pure electric vehicles, 54 PHEV’s and 927 hybrid vehicles sold for the month. 

The top three models for the month of September were the Ford Ranger (663 units), followed by the Toyota RAV4 (464 units) with the Mitsubishi Triton in third place (360 units).

The top-selling passenger and SUV models for the month were the Toyota RAV4 (464 units) followed by the Suzuki Swift (290 units) and the Kia Sportage (285 units).

Ford retained the market leader with 25 per cent market share (803 units) followed by Toyota with 13 per cent (406 units) and Mitsubishi third with 11 per cent market share (360 units).

The Ford Ranger retained the top spot as the bestselling commercial model with 21 per cent share (663 units) followed by the Mitsubishi Triton with 11 per cent share (360 units) and the Toyota Hilux in third place with 8 per cent market share (265 units). 

But as Toyota has just launched the all-new Hilux, you can see a major push by the Japanese brand with the ute in the coming months.