Slow July for NZ new car registrations, discounts to blame

There were 518 Ford Rangers registered in NZ last month. Photo: Ford NZ

The fallout from the changes to the Clean Car Discounts has affected new vehicle sales, with registrations of less than half the typical monthly average in July.

According to the Motor Industry Association (MIA), the 6202 units registered were 44.1% lower than July 2022, and 54.9% lower than the monthly average for 2022. July was 49.6% lower than the average of the first five months of 2023.

The Government changed the Clean Car Discounts on July 1, which saw June break records for new vehicle sales.

MIA’s Chief Executive Aimee Wiley said a decline in registrations was expected this month, for the market to rebalance following the record month of June.  

“What is concerning is the extent of market disruption generated from Clean Car Discount policy changes,” said Wiley.

“This will likely be causing unnecessary complexity and uncertainty for distributors, the dealership network and the entire supply chain associated with automotive throughout the country.”

The top selling vehicle for July was Ford’s Ranger with 518 units registered, followed by Toyota RAV4 (319 units)  and Toyota Hilux (270 units).

The top three overall market leaders in July 2023 are: Toyota with 16.7% market share (1,036 units), followed by Ford with 14.5% (899 units) and Kia with 8.1% (501 units). 

Toyota retained the market lead for Passenger and SUV registrations in July with 15.7% market share (681 units) followed by Kia with 11.5% (501 units) and Mitsubishi with 9.8% market share (427 units). 

In the EV segment, the top models were Tesla Model Y (169 units), Kia Niro (147 units) followed by the Volkswagen ID.4 (63 units).

The top three spots were the SUV medium segment (24.7% share), followed by the SUV compact segment (19.2% share) and SUV Large segment (8.2%).  The small to medium segments comprised 56.7% of the total market.