Modest upward trend for new passenger vehicles

Media Release
4th August 2009

Modest upward trend for new passenger vehicle sales in July

New passenger vehicle sales in New Zealand continued their upward trend in July with a modest increase of 3.8 per cent over the registration figures in June this year.

New Zealand Transport Authority figures show 4,473 new passenger vehicles were registered in July, compared to 4,306 units in June.

“This shows a modest, continuing trend of increasing new passenger vehicle sales from a major low in April this year,” says Perry Kerr, CEO of the Motor Industry Association.

Countering the optimistic trend seen in passenger vehicles, sales of commercial vehicles decreased 30 per cent in July compared to June’s figures.

“However one positive aspect of the new commercial vehicle market is that the July registration total of 1267 units is the third best month this year, so that is relatively encouraging in the longer term that vehicle sales are tracking upwards.”

July’s commercial vehicle numbers includes the first sales from Great Wall Motors (GWM), the first Chinese automaker to start selling their models in New Zealand via local distributor Ateco Automotive NZ Ltd. Thirty-five GWM dual-cab utes were sold in July, ranking the GWM brand number eight among the commercial vehicle distributors for the month.

Toyota, Ford and Holden are the top three marques in both the new car and commercial vehicle sectors. Year to date, Toyota’s overall market share of 19.3 per cent compares to Ford with 12.4 per cent and Holden with 9.2 per cent. The Toyota Corolla continues as the country’s best-selling model in 2009 with sales of 2,066 units, ahead of the Holden Commodore with 1,544 units sold and the Suzuki Swift with 1,419 units sold.

ENDS/

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