RAV4 back on top as October new car registrations climb 10%
Words: Richard Edwards
The Toyota RAV4 was New Zealand’s best-selling new passenger vehicle again in October, with 1174 registrations. It finished well clear of September’s leader, the Toyota Corolla Cross, on 912.
New passenger registrations rose 10.5% on October last year to 11,824, the strongest October in data going back to 2019. Rental operators registered 4848 new cars, 41% of all new passenger registrations, as they finished building their fleets for summer. The RAV4 also stays on top once rentals are taken out.
Top selling passenger vehicles
- Toyota RAV4: 1174
- Toyota Corolla Cross: 912
- Mitsubishi Outlander: 732
- Kia Sportage: 474
- Ford Everest: 322
- Mitsubishi ASX: 304
- GWM Haval H6: 299
- BYD Atto 2: 220
- Toyota Yaris Cross: 214
- MG ZS: 211
The RAV4 was down 28% on last October’s 1631. The Corolla Cross has climbed from 165 a year ago. The Outlander rose 24% to 732, and the Sportage more than doubled from 196 to 474.
The Haval H6 rose 64% to 299. The Atto 2 made the top 10, with 91 of its 220 registrations going to the electric version and 129 to the new plug-in hybrid. The Yaris Cross more than halved from 549.
Just outside the top 10 were the Toyota Corolla (208), Mazda CX-30 (184), Nissan X-Trail (172), Kia Sorento (171) and Mazda CX-3 (171).
The Tesla Model Y, fifth in September, dropped back to 74. Tesla typically delivers most of its cars in the last month of each quarter.
What private and business buyers chose
With rental registrations taken out, the RAV4 still leads on 634, more than twice the next model. The Corolla Cross is second on 303, and the Everest third on 256, with only 66 of its 322 going to rental fleets. The Sportage follows on 190. The ASX (168), Haval H6 (163) and Atto 2 (140) also went mostly to private and business buyers.
At the other end, rental companies took most of the Outlanders (608 of 732), Sorentos (151 of 171), CX-3s (150 of 171), Mazda3s (150 of 167) and Carnivals (124 of 142).
Hybrids lead, plug-ins triple
Petrol hybrids were the most popular choice among new passenger vehicles, with 4859 registrations and 41.1% of the market. Straight petrol models fell 12% to 3265, and diesel passenger vehicles fell 43% to 623.
Plug-in vehicles nearly tripled. EV registrations rose 195% to 1481, and plug-in hybrids rose 187% to 1477. Together they made up a quarter of new passenger registrations, up from under 10% a year ago.
The GWM Ora was the most popular EV on 112, ahead of the Kia EV3 (98), Atto 2 (91) and MG4 (90). The Atto 2 was also the top plug-in hybrid.
Where they’re built
Japan built 46.1% of new passenger vehicles in October, with 5451 registrations. China-built cars more than doubled to 3062, 25.9% of the market and up from 14.1% a year ago. South Korea (1413) and Thailand (751) were next.
For the year so far, China-built passenger cars total 27,388, more than double the same period last year.
Top brands (passenger)
- Toyota: 2978
- Kia: 1173
- Mitsubishi: 1121
- Mazda: 788
- GWM: 611
Toyota held 25.2% of the passenger market. Kia rose 40% and Mazda 39%. GWM more than doubled from 281.
BYD was sixth on 588, up from 108 last October. Its 197 Shark 6 utes take its total to 785. Geely registered 204 passenger vehicles, up from 25.
Top selling commercial vehicles
- Toyota Hilux: 872
- Ford Ranger: 805
- Mitsubishi Triton: 203
- BYD Shark 6: 197
- Toyota Hiace: 147
The Hilux was the best-selling ute, reversing last October’s order, when the Ranger led 834 to 756. The Shark 6 was up from 111. The JAC T9 recorded 52.
Diesel still powered two-thirds of new commercials, but those registrations fell 20% to 2204. Diesel mild hybrids rose 49% to 621, and plug-in hybrid commercials more than doubled to 314. Thailand built 59.7% of new commercials, and China 14.9%.
The wider market
Overall, 15,109 new vehicles were registered in October, up 6.5%. Commercial registrations fell 5.9% to 3285.
New passenger registrations for the year so far are 94,252, up 16% on the same period last year.
Used imports rose 18.3% to 8726, led by the Toyota Aqua on 900.
Registration figures are from NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) motor vehicle registration data. They count vehicles registered in New Zealand for the first time in the month. “New” means vehicles never registered anywhere before; “used” means used imports registered here for the first time. NZTA sometimes corrects its records after a month closes, so figures may differ slightly from those published earlier. Rental figures are vehicles NZTA records as rental use. EVs are battery-electric vehicles. PHEVs are plug-in hybrids, including range-extender EVs. Hybrids that can’t be plugged in aren’t counted in either.
