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 over the past three years, our appetite for new automobiles remained strong. Last year, the number of new cars sold 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.
However, this year, due to the tighter economic climate, cars sales are down considerably, by just over 21%. To the end of November there were 80,238 new cars registered, compared to 101,938 in the same period last year.
So what new cars are selling cars in NZ? Canstar takes a look.
In this article
→Related article: Top Selling Utes in New Zealand
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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, this year, there’s been a bit of a shake-up at the top. The Eclipse Cross has been usurped by its little cussie, the ASX, and the Model Y has dropped out of the top 10 best-sellers altogether.
Just 699 new Tesla Model Ys have hit our roads this year. That’s a drop of 80% on the Model Y’s sales numbers (3578) 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 November 2024 | Top Selling Cars Year to Date 2024 |
| 1 Toyota RAV4 (8757) | 1 Toyota RAV 4 (1877) | 1 Toyota RAV 4 (9539) |
| 2 Mitsubishi Outlander (4058) | 2 Toyota Corolla (419) | 2 Mitsubishi ASX (3525) |
| 3 Tesla Model Y (3936) | 3 Ford Everest (383) | 3 Mitsubishi Outlander (3113) |
| 4 Suzuki Swift (3922) | 4 Toyota Yaris Cross (335) | 4 Kia Seltos (2976) |
| 5 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross (3638) | 5 Mitsubishi ASX (333) | 5 Suzuki Swift (2555) |
| 6 BYD Atto 3 (3171) | 6 Suzuki Swift (224) | 6 Ford Everest (2162) |
| 7 MG ZS (3123) | 7 Toyota Highlander (221) | 7 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross (1791) |
| 8 Toyota Yaris Cross (2310) | 8 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross (219) | 8 Toyota Yaris Cross (1756) |
| 9 Toyota Corolla (2284) | 9 Toyota Land Cruiser Prado (201) | 9 Toyota Corolla (1723) |
| 10 Honda Jazz (2176) | 10 Mazda CX-5 (174) | 10 Kia Sportage (1609) |
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 gaining ground, EV numbers have plummeted. Just 5% of vehicles sold so far this year have been EVs, compared to 13% in the first 11 months of last year.
And it’s important to note that of the 31,328 hybrid cars registered in NZ this year, just 9% were plug-in hybrids, this compares to 23% across the same period in 2023. Is this a reflection of the fact that plug-ins are now subject to road user charges? Probably!
| Sales by Engine Type 2023 | Sales by Engine Types 2024 |
| 30% Diesel | 35% Diesel |
| 29% Petrol | 32% Petrol |
| 26.5% Hybrid | 26% Hybrid |
| 14.5% EV | 5% EV |
Top selling totally electric vehicle models
This year’s total EV sales are down 69% on last year’s numbers: 5504 new EVs have been registered so far this year, compared to 17,676 during the first 11 months of 2023.
However, despite many new models breaking into the top-seller list this year, Tesla remains the country’s most popular EV:
| Top Selling EVs 2023 | Top Selling November 2024 | Top Selling EVs Year to Date 2024 |
| 1 Tesla Model Y (3936) | 1 Ford Mustang Mach-E (86) | 1 Tesla Model Y (699) |
| 2 BYD Atto 3 (3171) | 2 Polestar 2 (62) | 2 Ford Mustang Mach-E (442) |
| 3 MG 4 (1793) | 3 Volkswagen ID.5 (54) | 3 BYD Atto 3 (351) |
| 4 MG ZS (1648) | 4 Volkswagen ID.4 (48) | 4 Tesla Model 3 (338) |
| 5 Tesla Model 3 (971) | 5 BYD Atto 3 (44) | 5 Nissan Leaf (305) |
| 6 Kia EV6 (955) | 6 Hyundai Ioniq 5 (35) | 6 Volkswagen ID.4 (268) |
| 7 Kia Niro (660) | 7 Kia EV5 (31) | 7 MG4 (241) |
| 8 Hyundai Kona (597) | 8 Nissan Ariya (30) | 8 Volkswagen ID.5 (193) |
| 9 Hyundai Ioniq (558) | 9 MG4 (27) | 9 Polestar 2 (175) |
| 10 Polestar 2 (541) | 10 Lexus RZ (25) | 10 Hyundai Ioniq 5 (174) |
→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 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 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 November 2024 | Top Selling Brands Year to Date 2024 |
| 1 Toyota 21,913 (20%) | 1 Toyota 3406 (38%) | 1 Toyota 18,877 (24%) |
| 2 Mitsubishi 10,284 (9%) | 2 Mitsubishi 757 (8%) | 2 Mitsubishi 8921 (11%) |
| 3 Kia 10,065 (9%) | 3 Ford 711 (8%) | 3 Kia 8098 (10%) |
| 4 Hyundai 7092 (6%) | 4 Suzuki 458 (5%) | 4 Suzuki 4902 (6%) |
| 5 Suzuki 6817 (6%) | 5 Mazda 426 (5%) | 5 Ford 4366 (5%) |
| 6 MG 6105 (6%) | 6 Kia 338 (4%) | 6 Mazda 3558 (4%) |
| 7 Ford 5446 (5%) | 7 Hyundai 334 (4%) | 7 Hyundai 3459 (4%) |
| 8 Tesla 4907 (4%) | 8 Honda | MG 291 (3%) | 8 MG 2811 (4%) |
| 9 Mazda 3829 (3%) | 9 Volkswagen 234 (3%) | 9 Honda 2772 (3%) |
| 10 BYD 3715 (3%) | 10 GWM 170 (2%) | 10 GWM 2400 (3%) |
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About the author of this page
Bruce Pitchers is the Content Manager at Canstar New Zealand. An experienced finance reporter, Bruce has three decades’ experience as a journalist and has worked for major media companies in Australia, the UK and New Zealand, including ACP, Are Media, Bauer Media Group, Fairfax, Pacific Magazines, News Corp and TVNZ.
Bruce started his career as an entertainment journalist before turning his pen to sport and fitness content, working for some of Australia’s leading sports magazines. Bruce then moved his focus to the world of finance and worked as a freelance writer and editor for The Australian Financial Review, the NZ Financial Markets Authority and major banks and investment companies on both sides of the Tasman.
In his role at Canstar, he has been a regular commentator in the NZ media, including on the Driven, Stuff and One Roof websites, the NZ Herald’s Cooking the Books podcast, Radio NZ, and Newstalk ZB.
Away from his desk at Canstar, Bruce spends many hours creating and editing puzzles for magazine and newspaper titles in the USA and Australasia, including Woman’s Day and New Idea. To that end, he is the co-author of the murder-mystery puzzle book 5 Minute Murder.
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