New Zealand January 2019: Toyota (-29%) single-handedly weighs market down 6%, Mitsubishi Triton above Toyota Hilux for the first time

Discounts on the outgoing generation and demo sales of the new one (pictured) means the Triton outsells the Hilux in January.

Signalling that the streak of 5 consecutive record years New Zealand has enjoyed may be coming to an end, January sales recede 6% to 13.938 units, with passenger cars down 7.9% to 9.942 and commercial vehicles down just 1% to 3.996. Toyota (-29.3%) freefalls down to 16.6% share vs. 26% in December and 20% over the Full Year 2018 and turns out to be the sole carmaker responsible for this month’s market drop: without Toyota NZ sales are up 0.5% to 11.626. Ford (-10.3%) is also in difficulty in 2nd place as is Holden (-19.3%) at #5 but Mitsubishi (+32.2%) manages the largest year-on-year gain in the Top 12 while Volkswagen (+1.7%), Hyundai (+1.6%), Mazda (+1.5%), Suzuki (+0.2%) and Nissan (+0.1%) also return positive scorecards in the remainder of the Top 10. Below, Land Rover (+145.2%), Jaguar (+115%), Great Wall (+106.3%), Renault (+51.4%), Mercedes (+35.1%), Jeep (+34.1%), Haval (+32.4%), Citroen (+30.8%), Peugeot (+30.3%), Lexus (+22.6%), Volvo (+19.3%), Subaru (+11.7%) and Porsche (+11.1%) are all in excellent shape.

Model-wise, the Ford Ranger (+17.4%) reclaims the top spot it has held every year since 2015, whereas the Toyota Corolla (-30.2%) dives despite 64% of its January total coming from rentals. The Mitsubishi Triton (+39.9%)  manages to outsell the Toyota Hilux (-31.8%) for the first time in NZ history according to BSCB records to rank #3 overall with the Mitsubishi ASX (+131.3%) thanks to 65% rentals, Suzuki Swift (+45%), Mazda CX-5 (+19.3%) and Nissan Navara (+19%) all posting spectacular results in the Top 10. Notice also the Holden Commodore at #15 thanks to 78% rentals, the Hyundai Kona at #19 and the Subaru XV at #24.

Previous post: New Zealand Full Year 2018: Ford Ranger signs 4th straight win in 5th consecutive record year

One year ago: New Zealand January 2018: Record month, rentals put 4 Toyotas in Top 5

Full January 2019 Top 68 All-brands and Top 25 models below.