Kiwi motorists shun big sixes, but SUVs still popular

Photo / NZ Herald

The love affair with six-cylinder cars appears to be over.

Rising petrol prices have driven Kiwi motorists to shun large, gas-guzzlers in favour of small, economical runabouts.

Cars with an engine size between 1.3 and 1.5 litres are most popular, making up 28 per cent of new car sales. But the trend hasn't stopped the rise of sports utility vehicles, or SUVs, which make up more than a quarter of new vehicles.

Figures from the Motor Trade Association show the market for large cars, with an engine capacity of 3 litres or more, has halved since 2004.

MTA marketing and communications general manager Ian Stronach said New Zealanders had turned away from the traditional "big sixes" - six-cylinder vehicles like the Holden Commodore, Ford Falcon and Nissan Maxima.

"That was family motoring in New Zealand, and in a short period of time we've really turned it on its head," he said.

But sales of small cars have dipped slightly in the past two years, a shift blamed on finance company collapses leaving many older people - traditional small car buyers - unable to upgrade their vehicles.

"A lot of those people have been cleaned out, so maybe the five-year-old Toyota Starlet is just going to have to do another few years," Stronach said.

The rise in SUVs mirrored a similar change overseas, but bucks the trend for more fuel-efficient cars, he said. They were particularly popular with women for use as family cars, and were more sophisticated and comfortable than "off-road" cars of the past.

Turners Auctions said sales of 2 litre and smaller second-hand cars had been steadily increasing, and fetching higher prices at auction. The Toyota Corolla has replaced the Holden Commodore as the most popular used car among auction buyers, a Turners spokesman said.