How are NZ new vehicle sales tracking?
October registrations reached 14,630, down 10.7% month-on-month but up 7.6% year-on-year. Rental fleet purchases comprised 34% of the new vehicle market (predominantly hybrid or petrol vehicles).
Dotted trend line shows 12-month rolling average.
Which brands are leading this month?
Toyota was New Zealand's best-selling new vehicle brand in October 2026, with 4,017 registrations and 27.5% of the new light vehicle market, led by the RAV4. That was more than double second-placed Ford. Toyota's registrations were down 0.3% on September 2026.
Next came Ford (1,339), Mitsubishi (1,324), Kia (1,197) and Mazda (788). Together the top 5 brands accounted for 59.2% of new light vehicle registrations.
NZ’s best-selling new vehicles: October 2026
Cars, SUVs, utes and vans combined. The Toyota RAV4 was New Zealand’s most-registered new vehicle overall in October 2026 with 1,174 registrations, ahead of the Toyota COROLLA CROSS (912) and the Toyota HILUX (872).
Petrol vs hybrid vs EV: NZ new vehicle sales by fuel type
In October 2026, hybrids (non plug-in) made up 38.3% of new light vehicle registrations, petrol 22.8%, EVs 10.4%, PHEVs 12.2% and diesel 16.2%.
Together, hybrids, PHEVs and EVs made up 60.9% of registrations, up 13.1 points on October 2025. Diesel moved most, down 7.9 points to 16.2%.