Corolla tops buoyant quarter

The Toyota Corolla reigned as the country's best-selling car in a first automotive trading quarter that showed signs of buoyancy after 18 months in the doldrums.

In a tightly packed race in March, smaller cars again dominated sales numbers. The Corolla led with 296 units ahead of Suzuki Swift's 270, Holden Commodore's 224, and Mazda3's 187. The Holden Cruze and Mazda6 tied for fifth spot with 175 units each.

New-vehicle sales last month continued the growth of January and February. New car registrations of 5392 units were up a whopping 25 per cent on February, 10.4 per cent on March 2009 and 9.5 on year-to-date numbers, says the Motor Industry Association.

Commercial sales in March just scraped ahead of 2009 numbers with 1595 registrations, up from 1564 last year. Year to date commercial vehicles are running 2 per cent ahead of last year.

"We are very happy with the numbers," said MIA chief executive Perry Kerr. "The market is improving slowly but steadily, which is what we were predicting at the beginning of the year."

Motor Trade Association marketing chief Ian Stronach said the improvement seemed to be something of a trend.

"March passenger vehicle sales traditionally show a lift over February and this year proved no exception," he said. "The indicators from other sectors of the economy are also pointing the right way, so while it's unlikely that the market will reach great heights, everyone we are speaking to is happy with the direction it's headed.

"With more new models, new power-plant options, and even more manufacturers represented than there were a year ago, customers across almost all sectors are responding as the industry hoped.

"The balance of 2010 looks a lot better than it did even six months ago."

Toyota maintained its number one spot in passenger car sales in March with 854 units. Holden took second place with 587, followed by Ford (497) and Mazda (495).

Toyota was also number one in commercials, with 538 units. Nissan was second with 188, followed by Ford (176) and Mitsubishi (174).

After the first three months of 2010, 15,295 new cars have been registered, according to the New Zealand Transport Agency. This compares with 13,972 last year.

Commercial sales over the first three months of 2010 are tracking closer: 4045 against 4039 last year.

It was a big month for used imports in March, a sign that the economy is improving, say industry observers.

Around 7800 were registered, a 28 per cent leap on the 6828 in January and 6761 in February.

So far this year 21,389 used imports have found new owners, against 15,185 units for the first three months last year.

Overall activity levels within the new and used car sector remain high with the prime indicator, Change of Ownerships, at their highest levels in over a year.

The motorcycle market also proved something of a bright spot with sales of 749 units being the best in 11 months, up 6 per cent over February's levels.

The reduction in sales is shared equally between scooters (under 60cc) and larger (over 60cc) motorcycles.