New Zealand May 2021: Market up 18.9% on two years ago, Mitsubishi, Nissan and VW shine

Mitsubishi sales are up 170.6% year-on-year in New Zealand in May.

The New Zealand new vehicle market is up 75.5% year-on-year in May to 14.552 units, lifting the year-to-date tally up 65.3% to 69.503. But more significantly, May 2021 is up a splendid 18.9% on the pre-pandemic volumes of two years ago in May 2019, while the 2021 YTD total is up 12.7% on that of 2019. This is the second month in a row the New Zealand new vehicle market is up significantly on two years ago. Passenger cars are up 60.9% to 2.512 and 17.3% share vs. 18.8% a year ago, SUVs surge 96.4% to 7.474 and 51.4% share vs. 45.9% and light commercial vehicles are up 65.8% to 4.034 and 27.7% share vs. 29.3% in May 2020.

In the brands ranking, Toyota (+48.2%) is far from matching the market growth but nevertheless scores a market share identical to its YTD level at 16.4%. Mitsubishi (+170.6%) surges ahead to remain in 2nd place with 11.8% share. In fact, the entire Top 5 is a copy of both the April and YTD charts, with Ford (+74.8%), Kia (+95%) and Mazda (+70.2%) in tow. Nissan (+205.1%) and Volkswagen (+150.2%) are the largest gainers in the remainder of the Top 10, with Hyundai (+91.6%) also beating the market but Suzuki (+52.1%) and Honda (+63.7%) weaker. Below, the most impressive carmakers are all Chinese: LDV (+455.4%), MG (+408.8%), Haval (+374.5%) and Great Wall (+315.4%) all secure fantastic year-on-year gains. Further down, Jeep (+433.3%) and Tesla (+304.5%) stand out.

Model-wise, the Ford Ranger (+75.9%) reclaims the YTD top spot off the Toyota Hilux (+80.7%) thanks to a frank win in May. The Toyota RAV4 (+16.3%) is up two spots on last month to land on the third step of the podium, a ranking it held over the Full Year 2020 but that has fallen to #5 so far in 2021. The Mitsubishi ASX (+476.9%) is up 6-fold year-on-year and two ranks on April to #4, with the Triton (+53%) and Outlander (+233.6%) making it three Mitsubishis in the Top 6, one more than Toyota. The Nissan Navara (+308.4%) leaps five spots to #7 while the Kia Stonic drops five to a still impressive 8th place overall only a few months into launch. Big gainers further down include the VW Tiguan (+211%), Nissan X-Trail (+192.2%), Hyundai Kona (+152.9%), Nissan Qashqai (+136.4%) and Isuzu D-Max (+126.6%).  

Previous month: New Zealand April 2021: Kia Stonic surges to #3 in market up 23.7% on two years ago

One year ago: New Zealand May 2020: Toyota RAV4 scores first ever win, volumes up 8-fold on April, off -32.1% year-on-year

Full May 2021 Top 65 All-brands and Top 20 models below.