New car sales accelerated

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

If the economic bouncebank from Covid-19 was measured by new car sales, the East Coast is recovering well.

New cars sales for the quarter (July to September) after lockdown were up 19 percent on the quarter (January to March) before it.

Data from Motor Industry Association and Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency show 1045 new cars were sold in the Gisborne-East Coast region over 2020 — 43 less than in 2019.

Gisborne Motors new vehicle sales manager Rod Husband said lower interest rates and lack of overseas travel were driving sales.

“Since Covid, we've certainly had a big increase in sales and it's continued into this year,” said Mr Husband.

However, production of vehicles has slowed down “so sometimes we've had waiting lists for certain styles”.

Comparing the quarters of January to March and July to September, sales of sport utility vehicles (SUVs) were up 17 percent from 95 to 115, while light commercial vehicles increased from 102 to 127, a 19 percent jump.

Passenger and heavy vehicles remained steady throughout the year but only made up 15 percent of sales. SUVs and light commercial purchases dominated the market, making up 85 percent of sales over 2020.

Toyota led the pack in numbers sold, with 188 sales. In comparison, only 17 Hyundai vehicles were sold.

One SUV Maserati was sold in Gisborne. The manufacturer's website says the latest model sells for $140,000 plus on-road costs.

A Tesla also sold in the region

One car dealer said many customers had moved to Gisborne to start a business.

They bought a house and a car at the same time.

The other major group of buyers were those spending money on a new car instead of heading overseas.

A problem for the industry now was getting enough cars to sell.

The dealer said a slowdown in international production and trade had resulted in a struggle to get stock.

“As soon as cars come in the door they're out again, which is not a bad problem to have.”

Enterprise Cars general manager Leon Lewis said 2020 was more or less the same as 2019 as far as their sales went, and he echoed the issue of stock quantity.

Mr Lewis said they ordered plenty of cars before the pandemic hit so were sitting safe for the time being, but it was becoming a national issue.