New vehicle registration from Waka Kotahi for the month of April has been released, showing a significant month-on-month decline as the market normalises following the introduction of the Clean Car Discount’s second round of changes.
These changes had seen car dealers around the country rush to register as many vehicles as possible (in particular, vehicles with higher emissions levels) in order to avoid paying Clean Car levies introduced on April 1.
As a result, registrations of both commercial and passenger vehicles took a steep decline in April. According to Waka Kotahi, 8537 passenger vehicles and a mere 1220 commercial vehicles were registered last month. That’s 9757 vehicles overall.
For reference, March’s record-breaking month saw 21,046 new vehicles registered, meaning April’s figures represent a drop of more than 50%. Year-on-year, new vehicle registrations are down 25%.
Predictably, the month conjured unpredictable sales results, with many of the ‘usual suspects’ failing to feature among the country’s best-selling models.
The Mitsubishi Outlander was the top selling model for the month overall, with 837 registrations. It was followed by the Toyota RAV4 (716), Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross (544), Honda Jazz (487), and Suzuki Swift (407). Every model in the top five has either a hybrid or plug-in hybrid option available.
The best-selling ute for the month was the Ranger, sitting fifth with a relatively paltry 287 registrations. The Toyota Hilux slumped even further, being the country’s 18th most popular model with just 103 registrations, with the Navara in 22nd with 85 registrations.
Ute sales are expected to eventually pick up again as dealers run out of pre-registered stock.
Inevitably small cars saw gains in April, with the segment arguably the biggest benefactors of the Clean Car Discount’s second round.
With the Hyundai Ioniq (239), Toyota Corolla (239), MG ZS (220), and Toyota Yaris (194) finishing seventh through to tenth, it meant that small cars tied with SUVs for model representation in the top 10.
With the RAV4 leading the charge, Toyota was the country’s top marque for April, with 1744 registrations; leading Mitsubishi (1623) and Suzuki (794).
Suzuki, a nameplate that touted its small-car line-up in the build-up to the changes, saw four of its models placed in the top 20 for the month, with the Baleno placing 14th (125), the Jimny 17th (106), and the Ignis 20th (94).
Another brand to hit the ground running was Polestar, with 81 of its new Polestar 2 fully electric cars registered in April.
Curiously absent from the figures was Tesla, with its best-selling Model 3 not appearing in the 21 most popular passenger-car manufacturers for the month. The brand is expected to rebound in May.
