The Tesla Model Y became New Zealand’s best-selling vehicle in September 2022, outgunning every other new passenger and commercial vehicle model and it was seven units shy of beating the entire haul of Toyota passenger car registrations.
Considering the electrified brand’s habit of making big deliveries then moving little in between, it is unlikely to be a short term trend seeing Tesla back at the top of the market, and in the short term it also shows the strong demand for electric vehicles.
Six of the top ten passenger models in New Zealand have plug-in options, four of them full battery-electric vehicles.
The passenger market in New Zealand itself was down 10.7% on this time last year, to a still healthy 10,603 units. Last September included delayed deliveries following a lockdown.
Commercial registrations were down 7.9% to 4278 from 4644 in September 2021.
In passenger, Mitsubishi was the overall passenger winner for the month, down 14.1% to 1650 units, taking a 15.6% market share.
Tesla took second on 1554 units, up 45.8% year-on-year for a 14.7% market share, while Toyota claimed third on 1509, down 24.3% for a 14.2% share.
Kia claimed fourth, down 2.5% to 808 vehicles and a 7.6% share, while Suzuki took fifth on 755, up 3.9% for a 7.1% share.
Hyundai was next on 571, followed by MG on 434, Mazda on 393, Haval on 277, and Volkswagen on 274.
The aforementioned Model Y was the passenger leader on 1502 units.
Taking second were a pair of Mitsubishi’s, the Outlander on 867 and ASX on 410.
The Suzuki Swift was fourth on 337 and the Toyota Yaris Cross fifth on 328.
In commercial, Toyota leads the market on 1159 units, up 23.2% for a 27.1% share.
Ford in second recorded 1063 units, down 29.3% for a 24.8% share, while Mitsubishi in third was up 73.8% to 445 units.
Isuzu recorded 243 vehicles in September, followed by Nissan on 198.
Ford’s Ranger was market leader on 1043 units as deliveries are well underway on the new-generation model.
The Toyota Hilux was second on 989, followed by the Mitsubishi Triton on 379, Nissan Naval on 198 and Toyota Hiace on 140.
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