Plucky Suzuki Swift claims unlikely NZ February sales win

Friday, 3 March 2023

The Suzuki Swift was an unlikely star in February’s new vehicle sales charts.

The Motor Industry Association has revealed that February was one of the toughest for the new vehicle industry on record.

A total of 9,541 new vehicles were registered across the month – a 23.7% drop year-on-year, and the worst month for new vehicle sales since February 2014.

The Ford Ranger led the month overall, narrowly pipping the Toyota Hilux.

Motor Industry Association chief executive David Crawford said that the decline was mostly down to the widespread impacts of Cyclone Gabrielle, which resulted in businesses shutting their doors and vehicles being damaged.

“The recent weather events on the back of a softening economy were a double whammy for the new vehicle sector in the month of February,” said Crawford.

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“While we expect demand for new vehicles in coming months to increase to replace those written off by recent weather events, high inflation combined with logistical delays due to road infrastructure creates a degree of uncertainty in the market.”

Whilst February 2023 will largely go down as a month to forget for the motoring market, it did conjure one really interesting result in the form of a unique leader in the passenger vehicle market.

Suzuki emerged as the most prolific seller in the passenger segment, narrowly edging Toyota 767 registrations to 744. Hyundai was third with 562 registrations.

The plucky Japanese manufacturer’s win came largely thanks to the Suzuki Swift – its 487 registrations making it the best-selling passenger vehicle for the month and third overall.

Two familiar utes continued to lead the market; the Ford Ranger (859) leading the Toyota Hilux (849).

Behind the Swift, the MG ZS (234), Mitsubishi Triton (230), Hyundai Kona (217), Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross (215), Toyota RAV4 (201), Mitsubishi Outlander (192), and Honda Jazz (178) rounded out the leading 10 models.

A total of 765 fully electric vehicles (BEVs) were registered in February, with the BYD Atto 3 (143) once again leading the charge, ahead of the MG ZS EV (104) and Tesla Model Y (95).

Along with being the most popular passenger vehicle, the Swift was also the best-selling hybrid for February, its 171 registrations topping the Jazz’s 151 and the RAV4’s 122.