With the luxury market going so well both Jaguar Land Rover and Lexus have recently spent big money revamping their Hawke's Bay showrooms in Napier and Hastings, respectively.
"We have been doing really well with Jaguar - we were awarded Jaguar dealership of the year last year - so I think it's probably a combination of a lot of things," Bayswater European managing director Robert Townshend said.
"We've obviously built the new Jaguar Land Rover dealership, which is a state-of-the-art showroom and I think that's reinvigorated the brand - plus we've seen some new, really good models come out.
"Also, Hawke's Bay's economy is rocking along quite nicely. I do worry about the rest of the country but I do look at Hawke's Bay, and that's why we are spending quite a bit of money here. "Hawke's Bay is quite diverse. If something is down it doesn't mean the whole economy of Hawke's Bay is down. That's been a part of the success of Hawke's Bay as well."
Ford was the region's most popular choice overall with 320 new models sold and Bay Ford/Bay Mazda Napier principal dealer Steve Ward said there was also a move there towards the higher-end models, and the SUV market in particular.
"As far as Ford is concerned, obviously the Ford Ranger is still the dominant light-commercial vehicle, so the overall Ford figures are being driven by the Ford Ranger.
"The market is moving into SUVs in a big way, close to 32 per cent of national sales. And we've just launched the Ford Endurer which is a luxury SUV, there's updates coming for the Everest, which is the seven-seat SUV and, on the Mazda side, we've just launched the CX-8."
An ageing population, along with changing lifestyles and growing families were behind the demand for SUVs, he said.
"I think for people in the senior age group they are realising they want to climb up into a car that gives a better drive experience, while with seven-seats it's growing families with growing needs, so that segment just continues to grow."
