Tesla Model Y charges ahead in NZ new car sales

There were 1502 registrations of the Tesla Model Y in September. Photo: Liz Dobson

Tesla’s Model Y has smashed new vehicle sales records for its first full month of registrations, taking the title of best-selling car for September.

The top three models for the month of September were Tesla Model Y (1502 units), followed by the Ford Ranger (1043 units), and the Toyota Hilux in third place (989 units).

The low- to zero-emission sector also dominates new vehicle sales, with 400 light vehicles and 18 heavy vehicle full battery electric vehicles registered in September. 

Coming in at the second spot after the Model Y was the BYD ATTO 3 (221 units) and the MG ZS (178 units). 

Registrations of plug-in hybrids were steady with 491 units registered for the month. The top selling models were the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross (167 units) followed by the Mitsubishi Outlander (138 units) and then the Hyundai Ioniq (41 units). 

There were 1674 hybrids registered in the month of September, with the top-selling models being the Toyota RAV4 (246 units) followed by the Toyota Yaris Cross (184 units) and the Hyundai Ioniq (150 units). 

The Motor Industry Association’s Mark Stockdale says that 14,879 registrations of new vehicles for the month of September, while the second strongest of the month of September on record, is down 9.9 percent compared to September last year. 

Overall, the market year to date is 0.2 percent down on the first nine months of 2021. September was boosted by strong sales of fully electric vehicles. 

Registrations of 10,601 passenger cars and SUVs were down 10.7 percent (1,273 units) on the same month last year but are still ahead of 2021 year to date by 2.2 percent (up 1872 units). 

Registrations of 4278 new commercial vehicles were down 7.9 percent(366 units) on September last year. Year-to-date sales of commercial vehicles are down 5.4 percent (2,114 units) in the first nine months of 2021.

Toyota retained the overall market leader with 18 percent market share (2,668 units), followed by Mitsubishi with 14 percent (2,094 units), and Tesla in the third spot with 10 percent market share (1,554 units). 

Market share year to date, Toyota has retained the lead with 17 percent (21,131 units), followed by Mitsubishi with 15 percent share (18,964 units) and then Ford with 8 percent (9679 units).