Toyota continues to lead New Zealand car market

Toyota New Zealand has taken advantage of a rebound in the motor vehicle market, with a 20 per cent increase in sales year on year after the first five months of 2010.

Continuing their 22 year trend of market leadership, sales analysis to the end of May shows Toyota has accounted for 20.3 per cent of new vehicle sales, a strong lead over the company’s nearest competitor, Holden on 11.2 per cent.

Steve Prangnell, General Manager Sales and Operations, says a 40.9 per cent share of commercial vehicle sales in May was an exceptional result for Toyota – the highest commercial sales monthly result since June 2008.

“Customers have snapped up the Hilux Fieldays ‘Get Tooled Up’ deal, making our iconic Kiwi favourite the biggest selling vehicle in the country in May by a significant margin,” he said.

“People expect a great Fieldays special from Toyota each year, and we have obviously delivered an attractive deal again.”

Toyota sold 481 Hilux vehicles in May, with the next highest selling car being Suzuki’s Swift (309). Hilux sales out-stripped that of its nearest ute competitor, the Nissan Navara, by more than two to one in May.

Toyota accessory sales were also strong. A large proportion of the $1.3 million sales being Hilux buyers fitting their new utes out with a variety of extras, from towbars to mag wheels.

Nationally, the market for new vehicles in 2010 has picked up dramatically from a difficult 2009, rising 13 per cent across all manufacturers in the year to May compared to last year.

“It is great to see Toyota also beating that overall market improvement, with our rise in sales at 20 per cent compared to the same stage in 2009,” said Steve Prangnell.