New Zealand March 2020: Holden at highest in over 2 years in market down -37.2%

Holden reaches 10% share in New Zealand, its highest since November 2017.

As a result of the coronavirus pandemic hitting the country, New Zealand entered into a Level 4 alert nationwide lockdown on March 25, with all non-essential activities prohibited. Contrary to some other markets such as the U.S. where dealers associations have lobbied – sometimes successfully – to consider new car sales in dealerships as an essential activity, the Motor Industry Association of New Zealand “endorses the government’s position that New Zealand needs to shut down to save lives” and “asks the public to be understanding if a request to service or repair your vehicle during this time is declined.”

As a result of drastically reduced business activity towards the end of the month, new vehicle sales in New Zealand drop -37.2% year-on-year in March to 8.317 units, leading to a year-to-date tally down -15.5% to 32.797. In March, passenger cars are down -35.4% to 1.773, SUVs down -35.5% to 3.617 and light commercials down -41.8% to 2.469. Year-to-date, PCs fall -27.9% to 6.550, SUVs resist best at -5.5% to 15.782 and light commercials drop -19.5% to 9.086.

Toyota (-10.7%) almost ignores the surrounding freefalling market to step up to 18.2% share atop the brands ranking, while similarly to Australia soon-to-be-discontinued Holden (-19.5%) gets a discount boosts up 7 spots on February to #2 with a round 10% share, its highest since November 2017. All other Top 10 brands bar Suzuki (-29.9%) and Nissan (-36.1%) fall even faster than the market, with Mazda (-54.2%), Hyundai (-51%) and Ford (-50.2%) hit the hardest. Further down, MG (+2266.7%), Tesla (+325%), Ram (+40%), Haval (+38.1%), Jeep (+13%) and Porsche (+4.5%) are among rare year-on-year gainers.

Over in the models ranking, the Ford Ranger (-47.8%) is a lot more crippled than its archenemy the Toyota Hilux (-25.1%) and as a result its advantage thaws to just 9 units this month. The Holden Colorado (-24.2%) rallies back up 13 spots on February to #3 while the Mitsubishi Triton (-41.6%) ensures the Top 4 is 100% pickup trucks. The Toyota RAV4 (+105.2%) continues to posts astounding scores thanks to the new generation and remains by far the best-selling non-commercial vehicle in the country. The Nissan Qashqai (-14.4%) and Toyota Corolla (-20.3%) also fare relatively well in the remainder of the Top 10 while Holden manages to place 4 additional nameplates in the Top 30: the Trax (#16), Equinox (#25), Spark (#26) and Acadia (#27).

Previous month: New Zealand February 2020: Toyota (+17%), Kia (+29.5%) ignore market down -2.8%

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

Full March 2020 Top 70 All-brands and Top 30 models below.