2022 New Zealand market summary

New vehicles

Overall there were 165,110 new vehicle registrations in 2022, down 0.3 percent on 2021.

The 116,549 new passenger/SUV registrations pushed the market up 3.9 percent on 2021.

There were 48,561 new commercial registrations, down 9 percent on 2021.

SUV again led the market with a staggering 86,207 units, followed by 47,663 Commercial, and Passenger in third place with 27,520 sales.

The top five models overall were: Ranger 11,572, Hilux 9,787, Outlander 6,826, Triton 6,136, RAV4 5,863: three utes and two SUVs.

New Vehicle Market Passenger and Commercial 2008-2022

New segmentation percentage market share

New SUV volumes were up 5 percent, and improved their market share to a record 53 percent. Light commercial volumes (utes and vans) were down 12 percent, and market share reduced from 28 percent share to 25 percent in 2022. Traditional passenger car volumes were down 1 percent, but the share held constant at 17 percent. Heavy commercial (trucks) volumes increased by 20 percent, even though market share remained steady at 4 percent share.

Segments - detail

Top 10 New Vehicle Brands - 2022

The second graph highlights the different contributions from the new and used import markets. It also provides a better reflection on what we see on our roads. The two sectors supply very different model mixes, and of course prices.

Brand performance

Toyota retained its customary top spot with only a small decline against the prior year.

Mitsubishi claimed second place on the back of another strong result - up 19 percent.

Ford rounded out the top three, but with an 11.9 percent decline in volume versus prior year. Kia and Suzuki gained, while Mazda and Nissan lost ground.

EV brands Tesla and MG stand out as they claim positions in the top 10 list. Some of the established brands outside the top 10 lost ground and position in 2022 on the back of product shortages and against the added competiton from the new-tomarket brands (including Tesla, BYD, MG, Polestar)

Drive technology mix

ICE 75 percent, Hybrid 11 percent,

EV 10 percent, PHEV 4 percent, FCEV 0 percent.

Hybrid 17,643 including 3,841 Toyota RAV4, 1,890 Honda Jazz and 1,640 Corolla.

EV 16,230 including 4,226 Tesla Y, 2,781

Tesla S, and 1,686 BYD Atto 3.

PHEV 7,307 including 2,705 Eclipse Cross, 2,243 Outlander and 647 MGZS.

FCEV 10 10 Toyota Mirai.

Ford Ranger was again the top-selling individual model by a considerable margin

Top three new models by segment - 2022

The new market supplies 97 percent of the utes, 77 percent of SUV volumes, and 70 percent of the commercial vans. Conversely, the used import market is responsible for 93 percent of the people movers, 73 percent of traditional passenger car volumes, and 67 percent of the sports car volumes. When the new and used import sectors are combined, the collective count of SUV and Passenger sectors are not too dissimilar (103,154 units versus 91,924).

New vehicle fuel type

The third graph provides insights on the changing nature of fuel types in the new vehicle sector.

Petrol and diesel still dominate with 75 percent of the market, but ‘electrified’ vehicles (a collective term covering hybrids, plug-in hybrids and pure EVs) are increasing rapidly. Hybrid was the largest alternate technology in the new sector with an 11.2 percent share, EV a close second with 10.2 percent, and finally PHEV at 4.7 percent.

In contrast, the used import sector shows a different mix with petrol/ diesel taking 66 percent of the market, Hybrid claiming a 29 percent share, while EV and PHEV are relatively small players with 3 percent and 2 percent respectively.