New vehicle sales up 12% in Feb from year ago; highest growth in almost 5 years

New vehicle sales grew in February at their fastest rate in almost 5 years as the end of the recession and strong consumer confidence triggered a rush back into showrooms for new passenger and commercial vehicles. Surprisingly, the Suzuki Swift was the best selling car ahead of the Holden Commodore and Toyota Corolla. The signs of robust consumer spending on such big ticket items will be one factor watched by the Reserve Bank as it considers when to start increasing the Official Cash Rate later this year. Car sales in January and February have surged after almost 2 years of being in the doledrums during New Zealand's longest recession in the post-War era. New Zealand Transport Authority (NZTA) figures obtained by Interest.co.nz show there were 5,659 new car sales in February, up 12% from the same month a year earlier. This is the fastest annual growth rate in any one month since August 2005, except for a one-off 13% rise in April 2008 linked to changes the previous year in fringe benefits tax rules.

New passenger car sales grew the most from the year before, rising 13.4% to 4,302 in February, while commercial vehicle sales rose 7.4% to 1,357. Used car sales also jumped in February from a year ago. There were 6,761 in February, up 46% from a year ago. Motor Trade Association (MTA) Marketing and Communications General Manager, Ian Stronach said the momentum in the turnaround in sales was holding. "While it's a bit early to say the market has turned the corner, we are seeing some good signs out there," Stronach said. Here is the rest of the release from the MTA:

Toyota displayed resiliency in the new car market leading it with 551 units followed by Holden, Ford, Mazda and Hyundai. In terms of individual models Suzuki proved a surprise leader with its Swift model which accounted for 234 registrations ahead of the Mazda3 and Holden Commodore. Perennial market favourite Toyota Corolla only managed 4th spot, with Ford Falcon rounding out the top five. Used import registrations of 6761 units were also up sharply over a year ago. At more than 2100 units or 46 percent ahead of January 2009, this sector is showing good signs of growth, although like the new car sector, there is still some way to go before recovery could be considered complete. Traditionally the new commercial sector maintains its own pattern of sales, wherein February sales are normally ahead of January, and again this was the case with registrations of 1357 units being 255 units or 23 percent ahead of January. More encouragingly, February's sales were ahead of the same month last year, up more than 7 percent "“ the first time this has happened in 20 months. As with new cars, registrations of new motorcycles traditionally soften during February, and this year was no exception. At 708 registrations, motorcycle registrations were below January's levels, although by less than 10 units overall. Compared to last year, February motorcycle registrations were down by 23 percent and are off by 28 percent for the year to date. And while sales of scooters (those motorcycles and scooters of less than 60cc displacement) have suffered the biggest fall "“ down 34 percent for the year to date "“ February was the strongest month for scooter sales since April of 2009. Suzuki remained market leader ahead of Honda, Harley Davidson, Triumph and Yamaha. Watch the Economic Weather Report here Watch on YouTube here