MTA vstat

New Zealand Vehicle Registration Statistics

October 2026
New Light Vehicles
14,630
+7.6%(+1,035 units) vs 12mo ago
Used Import Light Vehicles
8,659
+18.6%(+1,359 units) vs 12mo ago
Market Split
63%
New
37%
Used Import
23,289total units

23,289 light vehicles were registered in NZ in October 2026: 14,630 new (+7.6% on last year) and 8,659 used imports (+18.6%).

New vs used import car sales in NZ by month

New vehicle registrations have followed a volatile but upward momentum this year, peaking in September. This month saw a large volume of rental vehicles.

Used Import numbers are showing a sustained lift in numbers from mid-2026.

Light vehicle registrations
New and Used Import

Dotted trend line shows 12-month rolling average.

How many cars are sold in NZ each month?

Around 92,000 light vehicles changed hands in NZ in September 2026: 51.3% (47,172) were private sales between individuals, and 48.7% (44,704) went through dealers, including 16,374 new vehicles and 8,407 used imports. Private sales were down 6.6% on September last year.

Note: Change-of-ownership data arrives after the registration data each month, so this chart can trail the registration charts above by a month until the latest figures come through.

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Used Imports

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