Holden led the new car market in May, with sales of 560 units – a 12% share of the market. Traditional market leader Toyota dropped to sixth, behind Hyundai, Suzuki, Ford and Mazda.
The race for individual passenger car leadership also had a somewhat unfamiliar look. Suzuki Swift took top spot with sales of 286 units ahead of Holden Commodore on 205, followed by Holden Captiva with 181, Hyundai i30 with 173 and Ford Mondeo on 151. Long time leader, Toyota Corolla, was in ninth position with just 88 sales.
Member rankings and the overall total have been affected by shortages of new vehicle stock, said Perry Kerr, Chief Executive Officer Motor Industry Association. Toyota and Honda both suffered disruption to production facilities.
“The new vehicle industry started the year strongly; however it is clear a number of members have experienced disruption with the supply of some vehicle models as a consequence of the March Japanese tsunami” he said. “Very recent reports indicate the Japanese industry is moving quicker than originally expected and we are hopeful supply will be back to normal by the fourth quarter of this year.”
Toyota held strong in the light commercial segment however, with HiLux sales of 450 units making it New Zealand’s top selling model overall. Some way back in second spot was Nissan Navara with sales of 221 units and Ford Ranger in third with sales of 208.
