- Private sales on the up, half of buyers choosing electric.
- Strong rentals as companies gear up for summer.
- Utes recovering, but volume still down on last year.
New sales figures from the Motor Industry Association (MIA), the organisation that represents new-vehicle distributors in New Zealand, show a significant rise in registrations year-on-year: up 22% compared to the previous 12 months.
Passenger vehicles are leading growth with a 27.9% rise, while light commercials are also showing an improvement (2.6%).
Year-to-date numbers also reveal an 11.4% rise in overall registrations, again led by passenger vehicles: up 16.7%.
The MIA says the strong results are partly attributable to waiting lists, as vehicles ordered earlier finally arrived. Rental sales were also strong, at nearly one-third of overall registrations for September.
The drive towards electrified vehicles continues. Overall passenger registrations reached 13,243 vehicles in September. Battery electric (BEV) registrations increased to 2593, from 608 a year earlier, while plug-in hybrids rose to 1203, from 388.
Together, battery electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles represented 28.7% of passenger registrations, compared with 9.6% in September 2025.
Significantly, the number of private buyers has increased 20% year on year and in September, every second consumer registration was a BEV or PHEV.
“September was a strong month, with growth extending beyond passenger vehicles into the commercial segments,” says MIA chief executive Aimee Wiley. “Passenger vehicles remain the main driver of growth this year, while September’s improvement in commercial registrations is encouraging after several softer months.
“The strong performance this year for rental vehicles is a positive indicator for the tourism sector, as rental companies expand their fleets ahead of the summer tourism season."
The top-selling vehicle for September overall was the Toyota Corolla Cross, with 713 of the total 1053 sales being rental vehicles, followed by the Mistubishi Outlander (964, including 654 rentals) and Ford Ranger (843). The top five was filled out by two more Toyotas, Hilux and RAV4.
The top BEV was the Tesla Model Y (2593) by an enormous margin, followed by the BYD Atto 2 (588) and MG4 (165). Two more BYDs filled out the top five: Atto 1 and Sealion 7.
The best-selling PHEV was the Toyota RAV4 for the second month (352), followed by the BYD Sealion 6 (84) and GWM Haval H6 (83). Also in the top five were the Sealion 5 and BYD Atto 2.
NZ'S TOP 10 NEW VEHICLES YEAR-TO-DATE
Ford Ranger (7062)
Toyota Hilux (5983)
Toyota RAV4 (5602)
Toyota Corolla Cross (3446)
Mitsubishi ASX (3141)
Mitsubishi Outlander (3074)
Mitsubishi Triton (2993)
Tesla Model Y (2980)
Ford Everest (2128)
Kia Sportage (2102)