New commercial registrations lead vehicle market

The commercial vehicle market is 9.6% (876 units) ahead of this time in 2015, according to the Motor Industry Association.

Chief executive David Crawford attributes the performance to strong net immigration, competitive pricing, and end-of-financial year deals.

There were 3919 commercial vehicle registrations for the month of March, up from 239 in March 2015, and one of the strongest commercial vehicle monthly trends on record.

There were 8191 passenger vehicle registrations for the month of March, up slightly on March 2015 – and the strongest March passenger vehicle result since 1989.

The total number of new vehicle registrations came to 12,110.

Toyota was the overall market leader for the month of March with 15% market share (1850 units), followed by Ford with 10% (1261 units) and Mitsubishi with 8% overall market share (1029 units).

For the second month in a row, the top-three selling models for the month of March were light commercial vehicles.

These were the Ford Ranger, which had 5% overall market share (661 units), followed by the Toyota Hilux also with 5% (601 units) and the Mitsubishi Triton, with 4% market share (462 units). 

Toyota regained top spot for the commercial market for the month of March with 22% market share (851 units), followed by Ford with 19% (752 units) and Mitsubishi third with 12% market share (462 units).  The Ford Ranger retained its position as the monthly top-selling commercial model for March, with 17% market share (661 units), followed by the Toyota Hilux with 15% (601 units) and the Mitsubishi Triton with 12% market share (462 units). 

In the year to date, the Ford Ranger maintains a lead over the Toyota Hilux with 1904 registrations (19%) for the Ranger and 1345 registrations (13%) for the Hilux.

The Pick Up/Chassis Cab 4x4 segment took 13% of the market (1543 units) followed by the SUV Medium segment with 12% market share (1491 units), and the light passenger segment also with 12% market share (1413 units). 

Toyota remains the market leader for passenger vehicles with 12% market share (999 units), followed by Mazda with 10% (816 units) and Hyundai with 9% market share (731 units). 

The Suzuki swift was the top-selling passenger model for the month of March with 4% market share (304 units), closely followed by the Toyota Corolla, also with 4% market share (302 units) and the Mazda CX-5 with 3% passenger market share (242 units). 

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