Rotorua Daily Post
  • Rotorua Daily Post home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Residential property listings
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Rural
  • Sport

Locations

  • Tauranga
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō & Tūrangi

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales

Weather

  • Rotorua
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Rotorua Daily Post

Economic surge drives up car sales

Rotorua Daily Post
27 Jan, 2013 10:20 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

A resurgence in the economy has drawn new car buyers out of the woodwork, a Rotorua car dealer says.

Nearly 900 new passenger vehicles were registered in Rotorua in the year to December, a 4 per cent increase on 2011.

Rotorua Kia and Ssangyong dealer principal John Clough said 2012 sales were "significantly stronger" than the previous year.

"I would say the economy [was a contributor] we're slowly coming out of the recession ... people feel more confident.

"For a lot of people, they have held off replacing their motor vehicles during the recession and they feel confident about upgrading at this point."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

More fuel-efficient models were selling than ever before to counter high petrol prices, with smaller engine sizes becoming more popular.

"The main focus today with purchasers is fuel efficiency and safety features, as well as value for money. Smaller petrol engines - that's the trend - the modern engines are producing more power from a smaller CC engine and obviously returning excellent fuel usage at the same time."

Nationally, new vehicle purchases surged in the past year, with sales topping 100,000 for only the third time since 1989, despite sluggish trading conditions in many other sectors.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

In total, 100,795 new vehicles were bought last year, up 16,155 on 2011, the Motor Trade Association (MTA) said. MTA spokesman Ian Stronach said last year was considerably stronger than anyone had predicted.

New passenger car sales reached their highest level in five years. Sales were dominated by Toyota, Ford and Holden respectively.

The top-selling models were the Toyota Corolla (5324), Suzuki Swift (3321) and Holden Captiva (2506).

New commercial vehicle sales also had a good year, reaching a four-year high with 23,924 sold.

The top commercial models were the Toyota Hilux, Ford Ranger and Nissan Navara.

"While a positive result, the market is really only returning to where it was pre-GFC [global financial crisis]."

Mr Stronach said today's buyers had more makes and models to choose from, but New Zealand's overall rate of new vehicle sales still lagged behind that of Australia and the US.

"That in turn provides them with a newer fleet that's cleaner, more efficient and safer than ours."

Sales of used imported passenger vehicles were down 3 per cent to 78,311, but still well ahead of predictions.

Mr Stronach said the market had quickly adjusted to meet revised exhaust emissions standards, with the "pool of qualifying vehicles" set to expand again this year.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

A litre of 91 octane cost 212.9 cents last December, compared to 206.9 cents at the same time in 2011. Today's price in the Bay of Plenty ranges from 202.9 to 219.9.

The resurgence in new vehicle sales and greater fuel efficiency did not spill into the motorcycle market, which suffered the lowest recorded sales since 2003. There were 5945 new motorbikes registrations nationwide in the year to December, a 7 per cent fall.

The flight towards less powerful mopeds and scooters had clearly stopped, with sales down 28 per cent last year, Mr Stronach said.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Rotorua Daily Post

Mixed verdicts delivered for Tribesmen accused of murdering one of their own

11 Jul 05:00 AM
Rotorua Daily Post

Pair deny charges over death of Paige Johnson in alleged hit-and-run

11 Jul 12:26 AM
Rotorua Daily Post

Home-schooled students ride 755km to Parliament for equal sports access

10 Jul 11:07 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Mixed verdicts delivered for Tribesmen accused of murdering one of their own

Mixed verdicts delivered for Tribesmen accused of murdering one of their own

11 Jul 05:00 AM

Mark 'Shark' Hohua died in June 2022 after a violent assault over money.

Pair deny charges over death of Paige Johnson in alleged hit-and-run

Pair deny charges over death of Paige Johnson in alleged hit-and-run

11 Jul 12:26 AM
Home-schooled students ride 755km to Parliament for equal sports access

Home-schooled students ride 755km to Parliament for equal sports access

10 Jul 11:07 PM
Heavy rain warning issued for Bay of Plenty, up to 140mm expected

Heavy rain warning issued for Bay of Plenty, up to 140mm expected

10 Jul 10:57 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Rotorua Daily Post e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Rotorua Daily Post
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP