Ute sales crash, hybrids up in April

Tuesday, 3 May 2022

Ute sales may have plummeted in April, but they still lead the overall sales race so far in 2022. But will it last?

For the first time in nearly a decade a ute has not made it into the top three monthly registrations, with light commercial sales plummeting 72% following the introduction of the Clean Car fee on the 1st of April.

Figures released by the Motor Industry Association (MIA), the organisation that represents new car distributors in New Zealand, show that it was also the lowest April since 2015 for new car registrations, with just 9756 registrations, less than half last month’s record figure of 21, 044.

However, registrations of 8,536 units represented the second-strongest month on record for passenger cars and SUVs, largely due to sales of hybrid vehicles that are now eligible for a discount. There were 572 electric vehicles, 1,113 plug-in hybrids and 2,145 hybrids sold for the month.

The Mitsubishi Outlander was the best-selling vehicle in New Zealand in April.

Only a single ute managed to crack the top ten for April, with the soon-to-be replaced Ford Ranger tallying up 287 of the 730 light commercial registrations for the month for a 24% share of the segment.

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The Ford Ranger was the only ute to make it into the top ten for the month.

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The Polestar 2 was the strongest-selling EV for the month.

The Ranger landed in 6th place overall for the month, while the second and third best-selling utes for April – the Toyota Hilux (103 units) and Nissan Navara (85 units) – languished in 17th and 18th respectively. The Mitsubishi Triton only ticked up 10 registrations for April after it dominated the previous month with a colossal 2266 registrations.

The top three bestsellers overall for April were the Mitsubishi Outlander (837 units), followed by the Toyota RAV4 (716 units) with the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross in third place (544 units).

Toyota regained the overall market lead with an 18% market share (1744 units), followed by Mitsubishi with 17% (1623 units) and Suzuki in third spot with 8% (797 units). Year to date, Mitsubishi still leads with 17% of the total market, ahead of Toyota on 13% and Ford with 9%.

As expected, sales of hybrids recovered in April with some buyers delaying their purchase to take advantage of the rebate these vehicles now attract under the Clean Car Programme. Of the 2145 hybrids registered in April, the Toyota RAV4 led the way with 525 units, followed by the Honda Jazz (461 units) and the Toyota Corolla (198 units).

Registrations of plug-in hybrids were also bolstered in April, with 1113 units registered for the month. The top-selling models were the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross (497 units), Mitsubishi Outlander (479 units) and MG HS (28 units).

EV registrations dropped, however, mainly due to there not being a bulk shipment of Tesla Model 3s landing in April. There were 570 light and two heavy battery electric vehicles registered in April, with the Polestar 2 taking the lead on 81 units, followed by the Nissan Leaf (71 units) and the Hyundai Kona (70 units).

The collapse of ute sales for the month meant that the passenger and SUV segments dominated overall sales, with the small and medium segments accounting for 78% of April registrations.

Medium SUVs were the biggest sellers, with a 27% total market share, followed by compact SUVs (23%) and compact passenger cars with a 16% market share.