Electric car interest strong but overall new car and light commercial count 10 percent down on last September.

TESLA’S sports utility spin from the Model 3 sedan that has lit up new car registrations data in the past is now having its turn in the spotlight, with dominance in September.

Data shared by the Motor Industry Association, the representative body of most new vehicle distributors, shows the Tesla Model Y as being the top passenger model to be plated last month, a period when the new vehicle market was down 9.9 percent on September of 2021, but still stood as the second-strongest September since record-taking began in the 1970s.

The Model Y achieved 1502 registrations, a comfortable lead over the Ford Ranger that had been the top choice in August and gathered 1043 registrations last month. Third place went to the Toyota Hilux, with 989 examples registered.

On year to date count, Hilux leads the market with 7621 units, followed by Ranger on 7450 then Mitsubishi Outlander, with 7139.

In total 14,879 new passenger cars and light commercials – vans and one-tonne utilities – were registered, with the market year to date being 0.2 percent down on the first nine months of 2021.

The MIA says electric models were especially popular, with 2355 battery-dedicated passenger vehicles entering the roadscape, plus 45 light commercials and 18 heavy vehicles.

The Model Y achieved much more traffic than any other EV. The next most popular cars in that sector were the BYD Atto 3 (221 units) and the MG ZS (178 units).

This doesn’t mean the American brand’s sole sales outlet, in Auckland, was the scene of frenzied customer activity.

Tesla’s past big volume unloadings have come as result of big shipments arriving to fulfil an order bank created by the brand’s factory in China, which sole supplies the NZ market for Model 3 and Model Y, coming back on line after months of inaction due to coronavirus closures that hit all of China’s industrial base.

Petrol hybrids without facility for mains replenishment accounted for 1674 registrations and plug-in hbrids secured 491 sales.

The MIA has also noted that 2668 registrations allowed Toyota to lead the passenger and light commercial market with an 18 percent share, followed by Mitsubishi (14 percent, 2094 units) and Tesla (10 percent, 1554 units).

Toyota is also market leader for the year so far, with 21,131 registrations, well up now on Mitsubishi which led the way earlier in the year but now sits in second, with 18,964 registrations for a 15 percent share. Ford is third, with 9679 units.