Commercial car sales show there's life in economy

Photo / Thinkstock

The topsy-turvy new-vehicle sales chart that has typified the 2011 market continued last month with new-car registrations up on October's numbers but down on November last year.

"We anticipated last month's general election would have a negative impact on vehicle sales, so to come out of the month slightly ahead of October was good," said Motor Industry Association CEO Perry Kerr.

"Year to date the numbers reflect the serious stock shortages that impacted on the industry after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, and the floods later in the year in Thailand.

"However, commercial sales are buoyant so there must be some life in the underlying economy in New Zealand," he said.

New passenger car registrations last month were down 3.8 per cent (225 units) compared with November last year but up 4 per cent (216 units) on October.

The commercial vehicle market in November remained strong with registrations up 11.7 per cent (177 units) on the same month last year.

New car sales year to the end of last month were up 2.1 per cent on last year - 58,693 verses 57,481. Commercials, however, were running 14.3 per cent ahead, or 19,471 verses 17,028.

Toyota took out the top place in passenger car sales last month with just more than 20 per cent of the market, followed by Holden (12.5) and Ford (10.9).

Toyota leads the segment after 11 months of sales.

Holden is second, Hyundai third. The South Korean company has an almost 10 per cent share, up considerably on last year.

Year to date the Corolla is the number one passenger car followed by the Suzuki Swift and Holden Commodore.

Toyota leads the year-to-date commercial segment, too, with a 23.7 per cent share, followed by Ford (17.9) and Mitsubishi.