Car sales plunge in Feb

New car sales in February were down 38.5 per cent on the same month last year. Photo/Greg Bowker

New car sales tumbled last month, while the industry warns of more price increases to come.

The Motor Industry Association said the 3795 passenger car registrations in February were down 28 per cent on January and down 38.5 per cent on February 2008.

Commercial vehicle registrations of 1263 were ahead of January but down 37 per cent on the same month last year.

Association chief executive Perry Kerr said the new vehicle industry had anticipated the downturn and started reducing stock levels from the middle of last year.

Higher prices caused part of the slowdown, with most manufacturers having put them up and more increases were signalled.

"The overall price adjustment needed to compensate for the very weak New Zealand dollar is close to 50 per cent so there are still quite a number of price increases to come," said Kerr.

Toyota continues to lead the market in both passenger car and commercials with a combined market share of 16.5 per cent, or 832, registrations for the month.

Ford was second with 12.2 per cent (620), and Mazda third with 9.2 per cent (464) registrations, just pipping Holden with 463.

The most popular car last month was the Toyota Corolla, of which 219 were sold, followed by the Holden Commodore with 196, then the Ford Falcon with 166 and the Suzuki Swift with 160.

- NZPA