Sales of new vehicles going strong

By ALASTAIR SLOANE

The new-car market in New Zealand is going through growth it has not experienced for some time.

Sales of new cars in the first quarter of 2000 were nearly 12 per cent up on the same period last year, according to Land Transport Safety Authority figures.

January and February figures showed steady increases over last year - but sales in March of 7391 new vehicles soared 22 per cent over February.

March figures are traditionally strong, because it is the end of the financial year.

Toyota, with 18 per cent of the first quarter's market, has opened up a comfortable lead so far this year over its nearest rival Ford, which has a 14.6 per cent share.

Toyota models selling particularly well include the three and five-door hatchback Echo (at the expense of the Corolla), the Celica sportscar and four-wheel-drive Hilux.

Sales of the Hilux, New Zealand's favourite workhorse, have been boosted by the inclusion of the turbocharged 3.0-litre model However, Ford can expect to bounce back when its updated Falcon AU II goes on sale in June.

The jockeying will continue because Toyota has a line-up of new models still to come this year, including the Previa and Avalon, both with V6 engines, and the MR-S sportscar.

Holden has got the jump on its Australian passenger car rival Ford so far this year. Commodore sales are staying ahead of Falcon and should continue to do so until the arrival of the AU II.

Third-placed Holden, with 12.2 per cent of the first quarter market, was followed by Nissan with 12 per cent. Nissan models have sold well across the range, the Navarra ute especially so.

Mitsubishi lies in fifth place after three months with 10.3 per cent of overall sales. Next comes Mazda with 4.2 per cent, its new 626, MPV and Premacy selling steadily, followed by Hyundai (4 per cent), Honda (2.9), Suzuki (2.4), Daewoo (2.3), Subaru (1.9), Mercedes-Benz (1.6), Rover (1.5), Daihatsu (1.3), BMW (1.3), Peugeot (1.0), Audi (0.9), Chrysler (0.8) and Kia (0.6).

Mercedes-Benz had its best month ever in March, selling 85 vehicles. So far this year, on a head-to-head basis, Mercedes-Benz has edged out its luxury rival BMW with 252 sales to 238.

But when Rover's sales are included, owner BMW's figures for the first three months swell to 522.

The sales figures for March alone reflected the first quarter trend. Toyota sold 1283 new vehicles for 17.4 per cent of the March market, followed by Ford with 1148 and 15.5 per cent.

Nissan finished third with 1043 sales (14.1 per cent), followed by Holden with 872 (11.8), Mitsubishi with 843 (11.4), Mazda with 304 (4.1), and Hyundai with 273 (2.3).

Industry observers expect the increased sales trend to continue in light of projected growth in the New Zealand economy of plus 3 per cent.