Big cars still lure Masterton buyers

According to the MTA figures for new commercial vehicles, the Ford Ranger was the top seller in Masterton, followed by the Holden Colorado and Toyota Hilux.

Masterton car buyers are conscious of fuel efficiency but many still want a bigger gas guzzler, a local dealer says.

New Motor Trade Association figures show 570 new cars were sold in Masterton last year, 3 per cent more than in 2012, with Suzuki Swift, Hyundai Santa Fe and Holden Captiva the three top sellers.

Used car sales were up 2 per cent at 386, with Mazda Demio, Mazda Axela and Suzuki Swift the most popular among local buyers.

Nationwide, 82,433 new cars were sold compared to 98,971 used cars - up 7 per cent and 26 per cent respectively.

Brader's Car Court salesman Graeme Dodd said Mazda Demios and Suzuki Swifts were popular with his customers - particularly with female buyers.

Larger cars such as Holden Commodores and Ford Falcons were still popular with younger buyers.

"I find the younger ones have gone away from the turbo cars ... and are getting big value [from] something like a Commodore.

"If somebody wants a bigger car they realise they're not going to get [something] for nothing, they've got to use a bit more gas.

"But everybody still comes in and talks about fuel efficiency, it's their number one concern."

Despite widespread predictions economic conditions would improve this year, Mr Dodd said customers were not yet confident to spend more on cars.

According to the MTA figures for new commercial vehicles, the Ford Ranger was the top seller in Masterton, followed by the Holden Colorado and Toyota Hilux.

Motorcycle sales rose, at 64, up 52 per cent on 2012.

The top-selling cars nationwide between 2009 and 2013 were predominantly efficient four-cylinder models.

The Toyota Corolla continued to dominate the new and used market, but traditional favourites - such as the Subaru Legacy and Holden Commodore, the only car with more than four cylinders in the top 10 - had slipped in popularity.

MTA spokesman Ian Stronach said the price of 91 octane petrol in 2009 was $1.63 a litre but by the end of 2013 it was close to $2.20 a litre.

"With petrol costs increasing around 35 per cent in that time, it was entirely predictable that there would be a swing to smaller-engined cars."

Overall, the vehicle sales market had been improving in recent years but 2013 proved to be exceptional with improvements in every sector MTA monitored, he said.

"The performance of the industry set the pace for overall economic recovery, and this seems to be a pattern being repeated in overseas economies; vehicle sales have picked up ahead of improvements in other areas."

AA motoring affairs manager Andrew Bayliss said people had been turning away from bigger-engined cars in recent years.

"They're looking for something more fuel-efficient and obviously small four-cylinder cars are very much in vogue.

"But so also are SUVs - they suit the Kiwi lifestyle, but you can also have quite economic diesel engines in some of them as well."

Environmental decision-making had played a part in the shift. additional reporting Matthew Backhouse