NZ New car sales soften for start of 2023

Toyota’s Hilux ute was the top selling vehicle for January 2023. Photo: Liz Dobson

While the Toyota Hilux was the top-seller vehicle for January, it was the small car segment that dominated new car sales in New Zealand for the start of 2023.

The Motor Industry Association (MIA) has just released figures for January new vehicle registrations that saw a softening of sales compared to January 2022.

MIA Chief Executive David Crawford says that on the back of a softening economy, January 2023 registrations of 12,481 new vehicles were 7.4 percent down (998 units) on January 2022. 

Registrations of 9274 passenger and SUVs were up 3.9 percent (349 units) however registrations of 3,207 commercial vehicles were down 29.6 percent (1,347 units) on last January. 

“It is pleasing to see confidence from private buyers is holding up, however, the business sector appears to batten down the hatches on unnecessary or unaffordable expenditure,” said Crawford.

“Registrations of new battery electric vehicles were softer than the last quarter of 2022, however, registrations of non-plug-in hybrids remain strong.”

The top spots were the SUV compact segment with 28 percent share followed by SUV medium vehicles with 20 percent then the Pick Up/Chassis 4x4 segment with 15 percent market share. 

The small to medium segments comprised 61 percent of the total market. 

Toyota retained the overall market leader for the month of January with a 20 percent market share (2,529 units), followed by Kia with 12 percent (1,506) units and Mitsubishi with a 10 percent market share (1,298 units).

There were 1,237 light vehicle BEVs and 9 heavy vehicle BEVs registered in January. The top models were the BYD Atto3 (235 units) followed by the MG ZS (166 units) and the KIA EV6 (149 units). 

There were 495 PHEVs registered for the month of January. The top models were the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross (227 units) followed by the Ford Escape (57 units) and the Kia Niro (38 units).

Registrations of Hybrid vehicles (HEVs) were strong for the month with 2,075 vehicles registered in January. The top models were the Toyota RAV4 (337 units), followed by the Toyota Yaris Cross (212) and the Toyota Corolla Cross (193 units). 

The top commercial models for the month of January were the Toyota Hilux (800 units), closely followed by the Ford Ranger (796 units) and the Mitsubishi Triton (311 units).