Crediflex Recently Registered

In the first half of 2022 the New Zealand heavy truck market is outperforming the other segments of the new vehicle market.

Slowing sales of passenger cars and SUVs are now running 3.2% behind 2021 volumes year-to-date while the total vehicle market is 20.4% behind 2021 levels as the brakes have been applied to utility sales since tax changes on April 1.

But the heavy truck market (4.5 tonnes GVM and above) continues to deliver record sales. YTD January-June registrations of 2727 units are running 14.9% ahead of the same half-year period in 2021 (2372 units) and ahead of the previous record first-half total of 2620 registrations achieved in 2019.

Monthly registration... ... 

May new vehicle registrations signal another strong month for New Zealand heavy truck sales with year-to-date figures still running just ahead of previous records.

With 511 new registrations in May, the overall truck market (4.5 tonnes to maximum GVM), is 1.4% down on the best May result achieved in 2019.

But YTD registrations (January-May) of 2224 units remain fractionally ahead (+0.3%) of the pre-Covid record of 2218 units achieved in 2019. Notably the market is 16.74% ahead of the same period last year (1905 registrations).

The 114 trailer registrations for the month is down on 2018’s best-ever May performance of 172. And the 563 YTD total for the trailer market i... ... 

A late charge over the last two months of 2021 saw FUSO end Isuzu’s 21-year reign as the No. 1 make in New Zealand’s new truck market.

While COVID-19 lockdowns continued to negatively affect many aspects of NZ life last year, the overall vehicle market (cars, utes, SUVs AND commercial vehicles combined), hit an alltime record level, with 165,287 units sold – 3768 ahead of the previous best...in 2018.

The heavy commercial market (trucks above 4.5 tonnes GVM) performed almost as strongly, with 5190 registrations – just 124 behind 2019’s 5314 alltime record.

During 2020 and the initial COVID-19 lockdowns, the truck market had slumped 23% to 4082 registrations.

Las... ... 

The lifting of the nationwide COVID-19 Level 4 lockdown saw a rebound in new truck registrations in September…as expected.

From August’s lowly 283 registrations, September’s sales in the overall truck market (over 4.5 tonnes GVM) jumped 67.8% – to 475 – according to Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency statistics.

It was also a 25.6% increase on September last year (when there were just 378 registrations) – but was still down on the last “normal” (ie pre-COVID-effected) year, in 2019, when there were 514 registrations in the same month.

Also putting things into perspective were the year-to-date truck registrations to the end of September – totalling 3559, compare... ...