Top Selling Cars in New Zealand
According to the most recent government statistics, from 2013 to 2023, the number of cars, utes and motorbikes on our roads grew by a third, from around 3.4m to 4.5m.
And over the past few years, our appetite for new passenger vehicles has remained strong:
- 2021: 112,008 new cars
- 2022: 116,334 new cars
- 2023: 110,488 new cars
- 2024: 87,410 new cars
- 2025: 70,643 new cars to end of September
However, last year, as you can see from the above figures, due to the tighter economic climate, cars sales were down considerably, by around 21%.
It's worth noting that commercial vehicle sales, including ever-popular ute models such as the Ford Ranger, Toyota HiLux, Mitsubishi Triton and the Nissan Navara, were up, increasing 7.5% from 38,518 sales in 2023, to 41,389 in 2024. Although these number are down on the 48,479 new commercial vehicle registrations in 2022. So far this year, to the end of August, commercial vehicle numbers have hit: 30,152.
So, how are car sales progressing so far in 2025? Let's take a look at the latest registration figures from the NZ Transport Agency Motor Vehicle Register …
Top 10 selling car models New Zealand
The top five best-selling cars in 2022 and 2023 were the same: the RAV4, Outlander, Model Y, Swift and Eclipse Cross.
However, last year, there was a bit of a shake-up at the top. The Eclipse Cross was usurped by its little brother, the ASX, and the Model Y dropped out of the top 10 best-sellers altogether.
So far this year, the RAV4 is still in No.1 spot, and while the ASX and Outlander are still well behind in second and third, respectively, overall their sales numbers have already almost matched 2024's figures.
Rank | Top Selling Cars 2024 | Top Selling Cars September 2025 | Top Selling Cars 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Toyota RAV4 (10,530) | Toyota RAV4 (1281) | Toyota RAV4 (7502) |
2 | Mitsubishi ASX (3761) | Mitsubishi Outlander (810) | Mitsubishi ASX (3648) |
3 | Mitsubishi Outlander (3247) | Mitsubishi ASX (805) | Mitsubishi Outlander (3063) |
4 | Kia Seltos (3138) | Toyota Corolla (434) | Kia Seltos (2728) |
5 | Suzuki Swift (2703) | Ford Everest (363) | Ford Everest (2076) |
6 | Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross (2393) | Kia Seltos (258) | MG ZS (1529) |
7 | Ford Everest (2341) | Hyundai Tucson (218) | Suzuki Swift (1436) |
8 | Toyota Corolla (1854) | Toyota Yaris Cross (212) | GWM Haval H6 (1293) |
9 | Toyota Yaris Cross (1841) | MG ZS (207) | Toyota Land Cruiser Prado (1286) |
10 | Kia Sportage (1730) | Tesla Model Y (190) | Toyota Corolla (1280) |
Source: Motor Industry Association
Top 10 selling electric car models New Zealand
In 2022, EV and hybrid passenger vehicles accounted for just over a third of all new car registrations. And in 2023 that percentage increased to 41%. Overall, pure EV models increased from a 10% market share in 2022 to 14.5% in 2023.
However, it's clear the end of the EV subsidies has had a big effect. While hybrid sales remain strong, new EV numbers have plummeted. Just 5% of vehicles sold last year were EVs. And it's important to note that of the 34,635 hybrid cars registered in NZ last year, just 10% were plug-in hybrids, this compares to 23% across the same period in 2023, which probably reflects that plug-ins are now subject to road user charges.
So far this year, petrol-hybrid sales have remained strong, while EV sales are up slightly and plug-in hybrids have continued their decline in popularity:
Sales by Engine Type 2025 |
|---|
53% Petrol/Diesel |
35% Petrol Hybrid |
7% EV |
5% Plug-in Hybrid |
Source: Motor Industry Association
Top selling totally electric vehicle models
Over 2024, EV sales were down 70% on 2023's numbers: 6341 new EVs were registered last year, compared to 21,032 during 2023. However, despite many new models breaking into the top-seller list, Tesla remained the country's most popular EV.
And after a sluggish start to the year, Tesla has stormed to the top of NZ's top-selling EV charts, on the back of the popularity of its new and improved Model Y.
Over the past four months close to 800 of the new-look Model Ys have been registered, pushing the car's total sales for the year up to 997. Combined with the 250 Model 3s that have arrived in the country this year, it gives Tesla a 24% share of the EV market, beating BYD's 18% share.
And it's worth noting that BYD has four passenger car models – the Atto 3, Dolphin, Seal and Sealion – to Tesla’s two: Model 3 and Model Y.
So far this year, BYD has sold 907 of its four models, and Tesla a total of 1247 cars between the Y and 3.
Rank | Top Selling EVs 2024 | Top Selling EVs September 2025 | Top Selling EVs 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Tesla Model Y (826) | Tesla Model Y (190) | Tesla Model Y (997) |
2 | Tesla Model 3 (461) | BYD Sealion 7 (42) | BYD Sealion 7 (217) |
3 | Ford Mustang Mach-E (452) | Tesla Model 3 (39) | BYD Atto 3 (458) |
4 | BYD Atto 3 (383) | Kia EV3 (33) | Polestar 2 (343) |
5 | Nissan Leaf (308) | BYD Atto 3 (32) | Tesla Model 3 (250) |
6 | Volkswagen ID.4 (275) | MG S5 (31) | Kia EV5 (192) |
7 | MG4 (256) | BMW i (24) | Kia EV3 (191) |
8 | Volkswagen ID.5 (232) | Mini Countryman (23) | BMW i (186) |
9 | Kia EV9 (197) | Kia EV5 (19) | BYD Dolphin (178) |
10 | Polestar 2 (188) | Omoda E5 (14) | Mini Countryman (128) |
Source: Motor Industry Association
New Zealand’s favourite passenger car brands
Japanese brands have long been the top selling cars in NZ, especially if you also count commercial vehicles. Between them, Toyota and Mitsubishi make up a third of the market.
However, while Japanese brands hold a large share of the overall market, Korea's Kia and Hyundai are also big players in the passenger sector. But it's the upstart brands of GWM and MG that have made the biggest inroads into the top car charts over the past two years, displacing EV brands BYD and Tesla in the process.
New passenger car/SUV registrations by brand, no. sales and market share %:
Rank | Top Selling Brands 2024 | Top Selling Brands September 2025 | Top Selling Brands 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Toyota 20,719 (24%) | Toyota 2564 (25%) | Toyota 14,966 (21%) |
2 | Mitsubishi 9912 (11%) | Mitsubishi 1755 (17%) | Mitsubishi 7848 (11%) |
3 | Kia 8680 (10%) | Kia 945 (9%) | Kia 6769 (10%) |
4 | Suzuki 5197 (6%) | Mazda 523 (5%) | Suzuki 3671 (5%) |
5 | Ford 4664 (5%) | Ford 415 (4%) | Mazda 3385 (5%) |
6 | Mazda 3731 (4%) | Suzuki 414 (4%) | MG 3126 (4%) |
7 | Hyundai 3641 (4%) | Hyundai 395 (4%) | Ford 3088 (4%) |
8 | Honda 3172 (4%) | MG 376 (4%) | Hyundai 2656 (4%) |
9 | MG 3067 (4%) | GWM 295 (3%) | Honda 2602 (4%) |
10 | GWM 2636 (3%) | Honda 253 (2%) | GWM 2440 (3%) |
Source: Motor Industry Association
