Marque’s Hilux and the Ford Ranger remain most popular pairing but overall market suffers sharp drop in registrations.
Toyota edged out Ford in the race to lead New Zealand’s market for new commercials in January by having the top model and being the best-selling marque.
Its Hilux, pictured, sold 800 units for a 24.9 per cent share of the market. That was a 58.1 per cent increase from 506 units in the same month of last year.
Toyota also came top of the marques ladder with 989 registrations for a year-on-year jump of 48.1 per cent from 668 sales in January 2022. That represented 30.8 per cent of the new commercial-vehicle market.
In total, there were 3,207 new commercials registered last month for a 29.6 per cent drop from 4,554 in January last year.
Ford’s Ranger came second on the models’ table. It sold 796 units – down 16.3 per cent from 951 for a 24.8 per cent share of the market.
The Mitsubishi Triton was third with 9.7 per cent. It sold 311 units, which was down by 72.2 per cent from 1,118.
Toyota’s Hiace was fourth with 159 – up from 146 or by 8.9 per cent. Its market share was five per cent. Nissan’s Navara was fifth with 101, which was a drop of 73.6 per cent from 383 for a 3.1 per cent share.
Ford was the second-placed light-commercial marque in January with 892 sales for a market share of 27.8 per cent. This was down by 8.4 per cent from 974 in the same month of last year.
Mitsubishi was third on 316, down by 72.2 per cent from 1,137 for a 9.9 per cent share of the market.
Next up was Isuzu with a market share of 5.2 per cent thanks to 166 sales, which was down from 225 and by 26.2 per cent. LDV and Nissan shared fifth spot on 101 units and 3.1 per cent of the market each.
Used market falls
There were 401 used-imported commercials registered for the first time last month, which was 31.5 per cent fewer than the 585 units in January last year.
Toyota was the number-one marque with 160 registrations for a market share of 39.9 per cent despite its sales falling 24.9 per cent from 213 units in the same month of 2022.
Its Hiace was the leading model with 28.4 per cent of January’s market thanks to 114 sales, which was down from 156.
Nissan was runner-up on the marques’ ladder last month with 105 sales for a 26.2 per cent share of the market, and Isuzu was third with 25 units and 6.2 per cent. Those two marques also had drops in activity year on year with Nissan’s sales falling 24.5 per cent from 139 units January 2022, while Isuzu’s dropped 41.9 per cent from 43.
The Nissan NV350 was second in the model chart with 62 sales and a 15.5 per cent share of the overall total, while the Toyota Regius was third with 20 units sold during January.
Keyword: Toyota wins light-commercials battle