Registrations of new vehicles have slumped to less than half of the typical monthly average in July 2023, following a record month for new car sales in June.
New data from the Motor Industry Association (MIA) shows that 6202 vehicles were sold last month which is 49.6 per cent lower than the average of the first five months of 2023.
The drop in registrations was expected, as June saw people flock to dealerships before the new Clean Car Discount policy changes took effect at the start of July.
The top three most registered models for July 2023 were the Toyota RAV4 (319 units), the Ford Everest (265 units), and the Kia Niro (184 units).
Toyota led the way as New Zealand’s most popular brand for the month with 16.7 per cent market share, followed by Ford with 14.5 per cent, and Kia with 8.1 per cent.
A total of 787 new fully electric vehicles were registered in July 2023, with the most popular model being the Tesla Model Y which sold 169 units. The Kia Niro came in as the second-most popular EV with 147 units registered, while the Volkswagen ID.4 rounded out the top three with 63 units.
New registrations of PHEVs came to 406 total, with the top three models being the Mitsubishi Outlander (141 units), Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross (89 units), and the Lexus NX (27 units).
Hybrid sales reached 1150 units last month, with 307 of those being Toyota RAV4s. The Hyundai Tucson came in as the second most sought-after hybrid with 113 units, followed by the Honda Jazz with 75 units.
The most popular vehicle segments in July 2023 were medium-sized SUVs (24.7 per cent share), compact SUVs (19.2 per cent share), and large SUVs (8.2 per cent share). Both the small and medium segments comprised 56.7 per cent of all new car registrations last month.
