New Zealand March 2019: Toyota (-29.9%) sinks, Mitsubishi (+11%) shines in market down -5.4%

The Kia Sportage (+46.9%) is the best-selling passenger car in New Zealand this month.

New vehicle sales in New Zealand skid down -5.4% to 13.271, leading to a Q1 tally down -3.7% to 38.855. Toyota (-29.9%) continues to freefall but holds onto the brands pole position at 12.8% above Ford (-14.4%) at a round 10%. Mitsubishi (+11%) posts the only double-digit gain in the Top 5 with Mazda (+7.1%) also strong at #4 and Holden (-5.8%) almost matching the market at #5. Nissan (+18.7%), Honda (+9.9%) and Hyundai (+6.8%) post sturdy upticks in the remainder of the Top 10, while further down, Land Rover (+62.7%), Mahindra (+26.9%), Mercedes (+19%), Subaru (+16.2%) and Volvo (+15.1%) shine. Model-wise, below the Ford Ranger (-6.8%), the Mitsubishi Triton (+55.5%) is propelled up to 2nd place by the new generation, outselling the Toyota Hilux (-36.5%) in great difficulty. The Holden Colorado (+14.3%) rounds up a Top 4 entirely composed of pickup trucks. The Kia Sportage (+46.9%) is the only passenger car in the Top 6 ahead of the Mazda CX-5 (+2.3%) and Toyota Corolla (+4.9%). The Mazda BT-50 (+78.6%) and Honda Jazz (+63.8%) also impress.

Previous month: New Zealand February 2019: Mitsubishi, Honda prop market up 1.5%, 5 pickups in Top 5

One year ago: New Zealand March 2018: Hilux #1, Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross in Top 20

Full March 2019 Top 70 All-brands and Top 25 models below.