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The eternal Ford Ranger continued its local march in August, leading the national market.
Preliminary new vehicle registration data issued by the Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency has confirmed yet another strong month of sales for the Ford Ranger, amid a wider drop in vehicle sales in August.
In what’s becoming a familiar story, the Ranger led the national charts for August with 842 registrations, leading the country’s most popular passenger vehicle year-to-date; the Toyota RAV4 (773). Its Toyota counterpart, the Hilux, wound up third (465).
SUVs dominated the top 10, with the Mitsubishi Outlander (321), Eclipse Cross (233), and Ford Everest (226) ending August fourth to sixth. Kia’s entry-level SUV, the Seltos (214), tied for seventh with the country’s lead-selling hatchback, the Suzuki Swift.
Blu Steven/CarNut
Blu from CarNut checks out the entry level Kia Seltos LX. (First published August 2020)
The Everest’s presence in the top six is particularly notable, and represents an ongoing turnaround for a nameplate that has previously struggled to sell in volume. August saw the arrival of its new flagship trim level, the Platinum.
The top-selling electric vehicle for August was the BYD Atto 3 (131 registrations), its sales potentially buoyed by its recent runout promotion on Standard Range 50kWh models.
Whilst August had its highlights, the month on the whole saw the new vehicle market struggle. A total of 9809 new vehicles (6984 passenger vehicles, 2825 commercial vehicles) were registered, signalling a 33.1% year-on-year decline.
Uncertainty around the future of the Clean Car Discount or the looming general election could be a factor in the drop in vehicle sales. Nuances in arrival of supply could also be contributing, with brands like Tesla often not factoring in monthly stats unless a large shipment of inventory arrives.
Year-to-date, the Ranger leads the Hilux with 7229 registrations to 6308. The RAV4 holds third with 5114 units, with a significant margin separating the top three from the Suzuki Swift (2921).
Given the unsurprising success of the Hilux and RAV4, it is no surprise that Toyota continues to be New Zealand’s most popular car manufacturer, with just over 20,000 new Toyotas joining the national fleet between January and August.
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