New Zealand June 2020: Kia (+26%), Mercedes (+28%) buck market handicapped by no tourism (-17.2%)

Swan song: soon to be discontinued, the Mercedes X-Class pops into the NZ Top 30 in June.

New vehicle sales in New Zealand reduce their fall to -17.2% year-on-year in June to 11.514 units, however is now in a worse position than neighbour Australia (-6.4%) which restarted its economy later. This is partly due to New Zealand’s closed international border triggering the total absence of foreign tourism and therefore annihilated rental car sales (only 50 for June). The H1 2020 volume is now down -29.1% to 53.577. SUV sales drop just -8.6% to 5.376 and 46.7% share vs. 42.3% a year ago, Light commercials are off -23.3% to 3.637 and 31.6% share vs. 34.1% in June 2019 and passenger cars collapse -28.2% to 2.011 units and 17.5% share vs. 20.1%. Year-to-date, SUVs drop -21.9% to 25.418 and 47.4% share vs. 43% over the same period a year ago, light commercials are down -34.2% to 15.370 and 28.7% share vs. 30.9% in 2019 and passenger cars dive -36.5% to 10.331 and 19.3% share vs. 21.5%.

Brand-wise, Toyota (-26%) easily remains in the lead at 16.3% share despite a steep fall party due to the absence of rental sales, it distances Holden (-18.7%), Ford (-41.1%), Mitsubishi (-24.3%) and Mazda (-26.1%) all underperforming. Bucking the trend in 6th place is Kia (+26%), the Korean marque posting the only year-on-year gain in the Top 10. Volkswagen (-7.1%), Suzuki (-9.1%) and Nissan (-12.9%) resist but Hyundai (-39.5%) collapses. Further down, Chevrolet (+350%), Tesla (+325%), Alfa Romeo (+180%), Citroen (+133.3%), Ram (+133.3%), MG (+97.6%), Fiat (+85.3%), Lexus (+29.2%), Mercedes (+28%), Great Wall (+25.6%) and Peugeot (+21.1%) make themselves noticed with fantastic gains.

The Ford Ranger (-39.4%) reclaims the pole position it holds YTD in the models ranking, with the Toyota Hilux (-17.2%) and Holden Colorado (-28.8%) ensuring the June podium is 100% pickups. This is the Colorado’s third podium finish in the past 4 months ever since Holden’s discontinuation announcement triggered significant discounts to clear remaining stock. Leader last month and for the first time, the Toyota RAV4 (-0.5%) drops to #4 ahead of the Mitsubishi Triton (-26.4%) and Kia Sportage (+9.1%), the latter managing a rare uptick as does the Toyota Hiace (+16.2%) just below. The Mazda CX-30 breaks into the Top 25 for the first time while the Mercedes X-Class makes a rare appearance in the Top 30. The Skoda Scala is the best-selling rental car in June with 20 units sold or 40% share, ahead of the Toyota Fortuner (14%), Hiace and VW T-Cross (12% each)…

Previous month: New Zealand May 2020: Toyota RAV4 scores first ever win, volumes up 8-fold on April, -32.1% YoY

One year ago: New Zealand June 2019: Rentals lift Toyota Prado into Top 10, market down -8%

Full June 2020 Top 80 All-brands and Top 25 models below.