Top Selling Cars in New Zealand
According to the most recent government statistics, from 2012 to 2022, the number of cars, utes and motorbikes on our roads grew by a third, from 3.3m to 4.4m.
And our appetite for new automobiles remains strong, despite the tighter economic climate. The number of new cars sold last year was only slightly down on the previous two years’ figures:
- 2021: 112,008 new cars
- 2022: 116,334 new cars
- 2023: 110,488 new cars
And, these numbers don’t include new utes, which fall into the commercial category. Last year the Ford Ranger (9907 sales) and Toyota Hilux (8054 sales), were, respectively, the first and third most popular new vehicles overall on our roads.
→Related article: Top Selling Utes in New Zealand
So what are the top selling cars in NZ, Canstar takes a look.
In this article
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Top 10 selling car models New Zealand
The top five best selling cars in NZ have been the same for the past two years. However, this year, one former top performer has run out of charge in the sales race: the Tesla Model Y.
Just 548 new Tesla Model Ys have hit our roads this year. That’s a drop of 75% on the Model Y’s sales numbers (2198) at the same point in 2023. Has the end of the Clean Car Discount, the introduction of road user charges for EV owners and increased competition in the EV market pulled the plug on Tesla sales? It certainly looks like it!
| Top Selling Cars 2023 | Top Selling Cars August 2024 | Top Selling Cars Year to Date 2024 |
| 1 Toyota RAV4 (8757) | 1 Toyota RAV 4 (541) | 1 Toyota RAV 4 (5137) |
| 2 Mitsubishi Outlander (4058) | 2 Kia Seltos (308) | 2 Mitsubishi ASX (2277) |
| 3 Tesla Model Y (3936) | 3 Mitsubishi ASX (286) | 3 Mitsubishi Outlander (2164) |
| 4 Suzuki Swift (3922) | 4 Suzuki Swift (257) | 4 Kia Seltos (2005) |
| 5 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross (3638) | 5 Mitsubishi Outlander (221) | 5 Suzuki Swift (1950) |
| 6 BYD Atto 3 (3171) | 6 Toyota Yaris Cross (190) | 6 Ford Everest (1280) |
| 7 MG ZS (3123) | 7 Kia Sportage (178) | 7 Kia Stonic (1204) |
| 8 Toyota Yaris Cross (2310) | 8 Kia Stonic (169) | 8 Kia Sportage (1110) |
| 9 Toyota Corolla (2284) | 9 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross (154) | 9 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross (1082) |
| 10 Honda Jazz (2176) | 10 Toyota Yaris (136) | 10 MG ZS (1034) |
Top 10 selling electric car models New Zealand
In 2022, EV and hybrid cars accounted for just over a third of all new car registrations. And last year 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 are holding steady, EV numbers have plummeted. Just 4% of vehicles sold so far this year have been EVs, compared to 9% in the first eight months of last year.
| Sales by Engine Type 2023 | Sales by Engine Types 2024 |
| 30% Diesel | 37% Diesel |
| 29% Petrol | 32% Petrol |
| 26.5% Hybrid | 27% Hybrid |
| 14.5% EV | 4% EV |
Top selling totally electric vehicle models:
This year’s total EV sales are well down. In a rush to beat the Clean Car Discount shut-off date, a record 3361 EVs were sold/registered in the last month of 2023 alone, compared to a total of 3314 in the first eight months of this year.
However, despite many new models on the top-seller list, Tesla remains the country’s most popular EV:
| Top Selling EVs 2023 | Top Selling August 2024 | Top Selling EVs Year to Date 2024 |
| 1 Tesla Model Y (3936) | 1 Tesla Model Y (116) | 1 Tesla Model Y (548) |
| 2 BYD Atto 3 (3171) | 2 Nissan Leaf (59) | 2 Tesla Model 3 (311) |
| 3 MG 4 (1793) | 3 MG 4 (39) | 3 BYD Atto 3 (211) |
| 4 MG ZS (1648) | 4 BYD Atto 3 (36) | 4 MG4 (163) |
| 5 Tesla Model 3 (971) | 5 BYD Dolphin | Kia EV9 (28) | 5 Volkswagen ID.4 (153) |
| 6 Kia EV6 (955) | 6 Volkswagen ID.4 | ID.5 (24) | 6 Hyundai Ioniq 5 (118) |
| 7 Kia Niro (660) | 7 Skoda Enyaq (21) | 7 BYD Seal (113) |
| 8 Hyundai Kona (597) | 8 Tesla Model 3 | Ford Mustang Mach-E (17) | 8 BYD Dolphin (105) |
| 9 Hyundai Ioniq (558) | 9 Polestar 2 (14) | 9 Ford Mustang Mach-E (103) |
| 10 Polestar 2 (541) | 10 Audi Q4 E-Tron (11) | 10 Hyundai Kona | Kia Ev9 (95) |
→Related article: Best Hybrid Cars in New Zealand
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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 share roughly a third of the market.
However, while Japanese brands hold a large share of the overall market, Korea’s Kia and Hyundai are big players in the passenger sector. But it’s the upstart brands of BYD, GWM, MG and Tesla that have made the biggest inroads into the top car charts over the past few years.
New passenger car/SUV registrations by brand, no. sales and market share %:
| Top Selling Brands 2023 | Top Selling Brands August 2024 | Top Selling Brands Year to Date 2024 |
| 1 Toyota 21,913 (20%) | 1 Toyota 1250 (18%) | 1 Toyota 10,817 (20%) |
| 2 Mitsubishi 10,284 (9%) | 2 Kia 846 (13%) | 2 Mitsubishi 5880 (11%) |
| 3 Kia 10,065 (9%) | 3 Mitsubishi 714 (11%) | 3 Kia 5649 (11%) |
| 4 Hyundai 7092 (6%) | 4 Suzuki 444 (7%) | 4 Suzuki 3686 (7%) |
| 5 Suzuki 6817 (6%) | 5 Hyundai 320 (5%) | 5 Hyundai 2442 (5%) |
| 6 MG 6105 (6%) | 6 Mazda 315 (5%) | 6 Ford 2374 (4%) |
| 7 Ford 5446 (5%) | 7 MG 299 (4%) | 7 Mazda 2312 (4%) |
| 8 Tesla 4907 (4%) | 8 Honda 282 (4%) | 8 Honda 1990 (4%) |
| 9 Mazda 3829 (3%) | 9 Ford 256 (4%) | 9 MG 1872 (4%) |
| 10 BYD 3715 (3%) | 10 Volkswagen 216 (3%) | 10 GWM 1833 (3%) |
Searching for the Cheapest Personal Loan?
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About the author of this page
This report was written by Canstar’s Editor, Bruce Pitchers. Bruce has three decades’ experience as a journalist and has worked for major media companies in the UK and Australasia, including ACP, Bauer Media Group, Fairfax, Pacific Magazines, News Corp and TVNZ. Prior to Canstar, he worked as a freelancer, including for The Australian Financial Review, the NZ Financial Markets Authority, and for real estate companies on both sides of the Tasman.
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