The new car market in New Zealand saw registrations drop yet again in April 2025, with year-on-year and month-on-month declines reflecting a broader market cooling. While traditional leaders held their ground, some brands — including MG and Mitsubishi — made notable gains.
New Zealand’s new passenger vehicle registrations held steady year-on-year in January 2025, but there was a noticeable decline in the commercial segment.
The New Zealand market saw fewer registrations for both new passenger and commercial vehicles in October 2023 – though perhaps by not as much as expected by some – as the chance of the Clean Car Discount/Fee legislation ending in a matter of weeks rises to a near certainty.
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.
New Zealand’s new vehicle market has experienced a mid-year dip, with registrations dropping month-on-month from 13,337 in May to 11,946 in June.
The New Zealand Government’s introduction of the Clean Car Standard for vehicle emissions on April 1 saw ute sales fall off dramatically for the month, but the Toyota Hilux has lead a partial rebound in May.
In spite of the recent COVID-19 Omicron variant outbreak in New Zealand, new vehicle registration for the month of February 2022 broke yet another record.
