Ford Ranger tops October sales as supply issues continue

October, a traditionally strong month for new vehicle registrations in New Zealand, has continued to be just that, with the Motor Industry Association posting strong sales figures for the month. 

A total of 13,870 new vehicles were registered in October, representing a 16.8 per cent lift on the same month last year. The figure adds to a strong year in general, with 136,886 new vehicles registered in the first 10 months of 2021 (a 37.8 per cent increase on 2020 data). 

But, it’s not all great news. Supply issues continue to batter certain marques more than others, as represented by the tumultuous nature of certain models and their sales figures. 

The Ford Ranger appears to be weathering the storm without much fuss, topping October’s data with a huge 1610 registrations. That’s almost double the second-placed Toyota RAV4 with its 861 registrations. The Toyota Corolla completed the podium, with 742 registrations. 

The Mitsubishi Outlander (693), Toyota Hilux (585), Nissan Navara (383), Nissan X-Trail (345), MG ZS (263), Hyundai Kona (237), and Mazda CX-5 (211) completed the top 10. The unlikely Toyota Camry and Ford Everest narrowly missed out on a rare top 10 berth, finishing the month 11th and 12th respectively. 

It’s understood that the Hilux has been facing supply issues, hence its lack of sales firepower relative to its Ranger rival. The darling of September’s data, the Tesla Model 3, went from the second most registered vehicle with over 1000 sold, to not making the top 10. This is also understood to be supply related.

The Hyundai Kona Electric ended up topping the pure EV charts, with 136 registrations, ahead of the MG ZS EV (97) and Model 3 (95). Mitsubishi once again led the plug-in hybrid charts; its Eclipse Cross PHEV leading the pack (58) over the MG HS PHEV (54) and the Outlander PHEV (17). 

Despite the Hilux supply issue, Toyota led the market outright for October with 23 per cent market share, ahead of Ford’s 15 per cent and Mitsubishi’s 8 per cent.