Outlander tops April registrations, Ute sales well down

Less than 10,000 new vehicles were registered in New Zealand last month, making it the weakest April tally since 2015.

As expected, the introduction of the Clean Car Discount has made the Motor Industry Association’s monthly registration figures significantly lower than usual. That plus March was a record four weeks in sales and registrations, especially for the so-called dirtier vehicles.

For the first time in over a decade, a Ute has not made the top three in registrations.

Instead, April’s most popular vehicles were the Mitsubishi Outlander, Toyota RAV4 and Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross made up the top three.

It’s no real surprise to see Mitsubishi do so well, especially as they have plenty of stock to sell compared to their rivals.

The Outlander and RAV4 are now runaway leaders in registrations for the entire year, making up 12 per cent of the nation’s fleet.

The Ford Ranger remained the number one Ute for the month, albeit the 287 registrations puts in lower than the Honda Jazz and Suzuki Swift.

A long way behind the Ranger, the Toyota Hilux was the second most registered Ute. Making a welcome return to the podium was the Nissan Navara.

Despite the low numbers, the MIA anticipates Ute sales will rebound as the year as pre-registered stock runs out.

Unsurprisingly, registrations of mild hybrids, plug-in hybrids and fully electric vehicles were strong. The top selling models were the Polestar 2, the Nissan Leaf and the Hyundai Kona.

The Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross was the month’s number one plug-in hybrid, while the Toyota RAV4 was the best-selling hybrid.

Tesla didn’t pop up on any of the lists, most likely because of shipment delays. We expect them to bounce back in May.