November new vehicle stats show Ranger set for another year on top.

TESLA and BYD added electric oomph to new vehicle registrations in November, but a pair of one tonne utes that have battled for years still held strong buyer attention, with one looking set to be the country’s best-selling new vehicle yet again.

That’s the Ford Ranger, now selling with a big thirst performance petrol as well as continuing in its historically market-preferred turbodiesel form, all with CO2 outputs at odds with Government emissions reduction policy.

 Despite being on the outer with Clean Car, the Blue Oval ute remains a hot choice, with Motor Industry Association data citing it as the most popular buy-in for November, with 1527 registrations.

That result further strengthens likelihood of it knocking out 2022 as its eighth consecutive year as the country’s primary new vehicle choice. It also stands to be the top-selling ute for nine years on the trot.

Though it seems unlikely to exceed the type’s all-time record 12,580 annual tally achieved last year, this success will still look like a punch in the face for Government intent to push buyers away from high-emissions vehicles in general, and utes – which all fall into that category – in particular.

An arch nemesis, the diesel-dedicated Toyota Hilux, was last month’s third strongest seller, with 925 plated up.

This even though Toyota NZ, sitting as comfy as ever as the overall market leader (but yet to tip out Mitsubishi as the passenger segment top dog), working to constrain Hilux volume, for CO2 betterment. In contrast, Ford is looking to pump up Ranger’s status in 2023 with addition of a new Platinum edition (above) that dresses like a luxury car.

Between those two came a car that wins ultimate political commendation and rebate support, Tesla’s Model 3 (below).

The battery-dedicated model took 1099 registrations – so 428 fewer than Ranger, and 174 more than Hilux.

With 3358 registrations year-to-date, the Model Y is on track to be the country’s most popular EV for the year – an achievement at expense of the Model 3, on which is based. A past sector darling, Model 3 sales have now fallen dramatically.

Yet the new Tesla crossover is eating the dust of the Toyota and Ford utes; Ranger and Hilux respectively hold 10,465 and 9178 registrations year-to-date.

This despite the commercial sector in which they specifically place being down 7.4 percent year-on-year, with November’s trade slumping almost 14 percent compared to the same month last year.

Tesla wasn’t alone in flying the electric vehicle flag in the top 10 choices, but the next strongest type was the BYD Atto 3, whose 475 registrations put in sixth.

It placed behind the Mitsubishi Outlander (599) and Toyota RAV4 (572), both primarily succeeding in their electric-assisted forms – the first as a plug-in hybrid, the second as a hybrid.

Figuring behind BYD’s five-door hatch were the Suzuki Swift (438), Mitsubishi ASX (397), MG ZS (360), and another one-tonne ute, Mitsubishi Triton, on 313.

Does continued consumer support for the big name utes show Clean Car – which since April 1 has added a CO2 penalty to vehicles emitting more than 192 grams per kilometre - isn’t resonating?

That’s not a view held by the MIA, the organisation that speaks on behalf of the majority of distributors.

Spokesman Mark Stockdale says that the market continues to be impacted by the implications of the Clean Car Discount and the Clean Car Standard, a next step starting on January 1 that imposes CO2 penalties on distributors. 

“Along with supply chain challenges, the 2022 market is being affected by changes to Clean Car Discount … and the Clean Car Standard …,” Stockdale insists. 

“There has been an increase in low emission vehicle sales and a sustained reduction in the sales of light commercial vehicles.”

Overall, 15,621 new vehicles were registered in November, representing a 4.3 percent drop year-on-year. The market is down 0.2 percent year-to-date. 

Toyota was both the overall market leader in November and the passenger market leader, but for year-to-date, Mitsubishi leads the latter sector with 16,276 units to 15,803. 

Mitsubishi’s step-up has come down to strong take up of its plug-in hybrid models, the Eclipse Cross being the top seller in that genre, while Toyota in turn does well with its non-mains replenished hybrids, though it does not have total dominance of that bracket. In November Honda’s Jazz e:HEV sat between the Toyota RAV4 and Corolla Cross.