Record March despite supply disruptions

Vehicles are fast-tracking to customers.

Toyota Hilux was the top-selling model in March.

CONSTRICTED new vehicle supply continues to hamper distributors – though last month’s registrations count might suggest otherwise.

Last month 15,498 new vehicle were registered. It’s the highest March count since record-keeping began back in the 1970s.

That this tally represents a massive 86.3 percent up on the same month last year is easily explained – the country went into the Covid-19 Level 4 in March of 2020, so distribution, sale and delivery was highly restricted. April last year was also bleak, with 1039 registrations, a 90 percent fall on April of 2019.

Last month’s accrual follows a record February, when 12,488 registrations were notified. Year to date the market is up 27.6 percent (9046 units) compared to the first quarter of 2020.

And all this is despite supply disruption, resultant from Covid-19 though a global shortage of semiconductor is also influencing. This is a rebound from manufacturers having cut chip orders as vehicle sales fell last year. They have found themselves at the back of the queue when the market rebounded. The entire global car industry buys about $US37 billion worth of chips.

“A year on from our first Covid-19 lockdown, our sector is still operating under disrupted supply arrangements and supply shortages,” says David Crawford, chief executive of the distributor organisation, the Motor Industry Association.

“As shipments arrive, vehicles are going straight through Customs, distributor pre-delivery inspections and entry compliance, to the franchised dealer and on to the new owner, who invariably has been on a wait list.”

Most popular vehicle last month was the Toyota Hilux, which continues to enjoy buoyant sales following a massive facelift late last year. In March it recorded 1019 registrations to claim a 19 percent share of the commercial market. Arch-rival Ford Ranger accounted for 828 sales to sit in second spot, with Mitsubishi Triton third on 691.

In the passenger segment the Mitsubishi Outlander again led the way with 467 registrations, comfortably ahead of the Kia Sportage, Mazda CX-5 and Toyota RAV4.

Of the total of 15,498 registrations, 424 (2.7 percent) were pure electric vehicles. There were also 150 PHEVs and 855 hybrids sold during the month.

Toyota remains the overall market leader with a 15 percent market share, followed by Mitsubishi on 11 percent and Ford on nine percent.

Santa Fe and Sorento: Same yet different

The latest editions of the Hyundai and Kia large SUVs are still twins, but far from identical – particularly on the inside.

the Hyundai Santa Fe (above) and Kia Sorento are classic examples of badge engineering.

 I CAN just imagine the discussions that took place between two design teams during development of the latest Hyundai Santa Fe and Kia Sorento medium-sized sport utilities.

Hyundai: “We’re typically regarded as the more luxurious marque, so we want our interior to reflect that.”

Kia: “We’re typically regarded as the sportier and more youthful brand, so our interior should reflect that.”

To all intents and purposes the Santa Fe and Sorento are the same vehicle. They’re built on the same platform, share the same powertrains, and their base exterior designs are the same. And although they are built at different South Korean assembly plants – the Hyundai at Ulsan and the Kia at Hwaseong  - they were no doubt also developed within sight of each other at the sprawling Hyundai Kia Automotive Group research and development centre at NamYang, in South Korea.

But the two vehicles are different, particularly when viewed from the inside. In there, it is the Sorento that indeed exudes the more youthful look, while it is the Santa Fe that is indeed the more grown-up and luxurious.

It’s called badge engineering – but it’s not as we used to know it.

The term had its origins in the days – as far back as 1917, in fact - when, in an effort to spread vehicle development costs, manufacturers would simply replace a car’s badging to create a new model that would be sold by a different brand. Such as swapping the badges of a Mazda 323 hatch and calling it a Ford Laser, for instance. Or in more recent times, changing the badges of an Opel Senator or Insignia and calling it a Holden Commodore.

The Sorento is larger, its wheelbase and body is longer, which translates to superior interior load space.

These days, in many instances the badge engineering has progressed far beyond simply swapping logos. Exterior styling between closely related vehicles can be considerably different, interiors can be unique, and ride and handling characteristics can be engineered to suit the particular needs of each particular vehicle.

Outstanding modern-day examples of all of this are the Santa Fe and the Sorento. And the best way to illustrate it all is to study their respective centre consoles – those areas that house all the control bearing surfaces ranging from infotainment to climate controls to gearshifts.

At the top level – the Santa Fe Limited and the Sorento Premium – the vehicles are powered by the same 2.2-litre turbocharged diesel mated to an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic operated via a shift-by-wire selector.

But the vehicles require different techniques to do the gear selecting. In the case of the Santa Fe the selector is a push-button thing with Reverse, Neutral and Drive in a top-to-bottom line, with Park (the electronic park brake) to one side. The Sorento’s selector is a rotary device with R, N and D in a left-to-right sequence with the P button in the centre.

The differences continue through the respective centre consoles. In the Kia, the audio and air conditioning controls are located between two air vents in the dash area immediately below a tablet-style infotainment screen, while in the Hyundai the controls are laid out in an orderly fashion slightly north of the gear selector.

There are numerous other differences in the centre console designs, and they all point towards the same design conclusion – that the Santa Fe should be seen as the more premium SUV, the Sorento as the more informal choice.

So which is best? Well, firstly I have to say that both interiors are very good, outstanding examples of how things can be the same but different. Study both interior designs closely and it is obvious that almost all the controls are essentially in shared locations, but their design and application are unique.

Hyundai’s interior is different to the Kia’s, not least when it comes to the gear selector design. This is the Santa Fe …. Rob didn’t like it.

…. here’s the Kia. And, again, a gear selector that failed to impress.

But as for the electronic gear selectors? Frankly, I don’t like either.  I much prefer the sense of motoring involvement that comes via the use of a gearstick. Isn’t that ironic? It doesn’t seem that long ago that we were all moaning about the demise of manual gearshifts. Now I find myself moaning about the demise of auto gearshifters.

Mind you, there’s no denying the intelligence of the electronic transmissions. Our home has a short sloping driveway that requires us to reverse out of. When I had the Santa Fe for road test I initially found I was unable to select reverse gear and move off, because the Hyundai refused to disengage the electric park brake. It took a little while for me to realise this would not happen until we had clicked the driver’s seat belt in place.

Of course the same intelligence is aboard the Sorento, because they share the same transmission. In fact with both vehicles you are not allowed to move off in Drive either unless you have the driver’s seatbelt clicked in place.

Other differences between the two? While it is obvious the base design is the same, there are major differences in nose and tail design. The Sorento is larger, its wheelbase (2815mm versus 2765mm) and body is longer, which translates to superior interior load space. I believe that, to the uninitiated, the Santa Fe and Sorento have to be regarded as entirely different SUVs.

They’re both contributing solidly to their brands’ sales efforts, too.

As at the end of February Kia was running second beyond Toyota in passenger vehicle and SUV sales with a 13 percent share, while Hyundai was in sixth place with seven percent. But of these two medium-sized SUVs, it was the Santa Fe that was the dominant performer, sitting in 10th place with 338 sales.

That was a sound result for an SUV that sells for as much as $89,990 as a Limited – which is $13,000 more than the Sorento Premium. Could that be because customers prefer the more premium look of the Santa Fe to the extent they are prepared to pay the extra dollars? Or, does the Hyundai look more premium both inside and out than the Kia Equivalent?

After looking at the photographs accompanying this article, you be the judge.

Record February belies continued shortages

Straight off the ship and into driveways – that’s the pattern showing in a big month of new vehicle registrations.

Toyota Hilux kicked dirt into Ford Ranger’s face in February

LAST MONTH’s record run of new vehicle sales isn’t a sign that New Zealand’s distributors are overcoming a severe shortage of stock to sell – it’s because every vehicle arriving here is being snapped up by waiting customers.

There are still big backlogs of customer orders, and as a result new vehicle stock reserves are still less than 50 percent of normal, says the Motor Industry Association.

“Essentially all new vehicle arrivals are going straight from the wharves to the distributors to the dealerships to the customers,” says MIA chief executive officer David Crawford.

“February’s new vehicle sales figure of 12,488 registrations was the strongest for the month of February ever, but it could have been even better - New Zealand is still facing a cocktail of supply constraints.”

These include some factories remaining on go-slow due to issues surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic, shortages of various vehicle parts, and big delays in getting new vehicles shipped to New Zealand.

Despite those issues, February was still a very healthy month for new vehicle sales. They were 9.2 percent up on February last year, and year-to-date the market is up 7.6 percent or 1865 units on the opening two months of 2020.

If the trend continues, March and April will be a welcome change from the same months of last year when sales fell to almost nil thanks to the effects of Covid-19 – the national Level 4 lockdown here, and the lack of vehicle manufacturing internationally.

A feature of the MIA figures for February were some significant changes in what vehicles are the most popular.

Mitsubishi Motors New Zealand’s runout programme for Outlander seems to be going well.

The Toyota Hilux cleaned out arch-rival Ford Ranger to lead the commercial sales race, its 804 sales taking a commanding 21 percent market share, well ahead of Ranger’s 15 percent.

And in the SUV/passenger vehicle segment it was the Mitsubishi Outlander that grabbed top spot from the Mazda CX-5 with 595 registrations – helped along by 133 sales to a fast-recovering rental car industry.

Compact SUVs strengthened their lead over from medium SUVs as the most popular vehicle type. Led by such product as Kia Seltos and Sportage, Mitsubishi ASX and Toyota C-HR, the segment grabbed a 22 percent market share with 2778 registrations. Year-to-date the compact SUVs now hold a 24 percent share, well ahead of the 19 percent held by the medium SUVs.

Toyota remains the market leader for all new vehicle sales with a 16 percent share, but Mitsubishi has improved to 13 percent thanks largely to continued popularity of its Outlander and ASX models, and Triton ute. Ford and Kia share third spot with 8 percent market shares.

“The February market has benefitted from recent stock arrivals and a resilient local economy where New Zealanders continue to spend on new vehicles what might otherwise be spent on international travel,” says Crawford.

The top 10 sellers for February: Toyota Hilux, 804 registrations; Mitsubishi Outlander, 595; Ford Ranger, 549; Mitsubishi Triton, 474; Kia Sportage, 370; Kia Seltos, 364; Mazda CX-5, 360; Mitsubishi ASX, 319; Suzuki Swift, 311; Toyota RAV4, 284.

Feebate 'best' route to lower exhaust emissions

Forget about banning gas guzzlers – convince motorists to buy low-emission vehicles, says the new car industry’s voice.

The lower a passenger vehicle’s emissions, the bigger the incentive, the MIA believes.

NEW vehicle importers have begun urging the Government to introduce a feebate scheme to accelerate the uptake of low-emission vehicles.

In a move obviously designed to see off any chance of an outright ban on importing vehicles fuelled by petrol or diesel, as has just been suggested by the Green Party, the Motor Industry Association, which presents new vehicle distributors, is pushing for new policies aimed at incentivising motorists to buy passenger models with the cleanest exhaust emissions – or none at all.

Chief executive David Crawford says members are strong supporters of having effective policies to encourage the reduction of carbon emissions from transport.

The way to do that is not to introduce policies aimed singularly at limiting vehicle supply. This would happen if the Government adopted the United Kingdom’s decision to ban pure petrol and diesel vehicles from as early as 2030. More preferable is to have policies that influence demand by incentivising the adoption of low technology technologies, Crawford says.

Such policies would be effective tools so long as they were implemented in a way that addressed the price premiums the low-emission vehicles have, he adds.

And the best way to achieve that is to introduce a feebate scheme that encourages car buyers to choose vehicles that are more efficient and less polluting, through rewarding those who do by giving them a rebate on the purchase price, funded by fees added to the price of less efficient vehicles.

“Because the distribution of new vehicles in New Zealand is a derived demand model, a well-designed feebate scheme incentivises change as it influences the purchase decision,” he says.

“This in turn alters the mix of models supplied by distributors which is more influenced by what is bought, and therefore restocked, rather than policies aimed singularly at limiting supply.

“Low emission technology is expensive, so policies that address low emission vehicle affordability are likely to be the most effective tools available to the Government.”

The previous Government proposed a ‘clean car initiative’, a ‘clean car standard’ (which would be a vehicle fuel-efficiency standard) and a ‘clean car discount’ (which would apply a rebate or penalty depending on exhaust emissions).

At the time, the MIA said it welcomed sensible discussions on ways to make vehicles cleaner and greener, and it promised the new car sector would work constructively with Government to help  create the best mix of policies to achieve that outcome.

The organisation didn’t like the ‘clean car standard’, because it implied that distributors had a significant influence on what vehicles Kiwi motorists chose to buy. It claimed that policies aimed at controlling supply into our market, imposed artificial controls that could distort the market.

But the MIA was particularly keen on the proposed ‘clean car discount’, as it would send a very clear signal to consumers and would over time increase demand for lower emitting vehicles. The MIA said that in its view it would be the most powerful policy available to the Government to influence car purchase decisions.

However, later in the year the whole ‘clean car initiative’ came to a screeching halt when the kybosh was put on the proposal by New Zealand First, a partner in the then coalition Government.

The MIA is asking for the ‘clean car discount’ to get picked up again by the new Labour Government, and as originally suggested it should apply to all light vehicles of less than 3500 kilograms gross vehicle mass.

Under the MIA’s proposed feebate scheme, vehicles with CO2 outputs of 230 grams per kilometre and above would pay a penalty, those with emissions of between 100-230 g/km would be in a “neutral” zone, those with emissions of between 50 and 100 g/km – which would be some hybrids and most PHEVs - would attract a low rebate, and those with CO2 outputs below 50 g/km would attract the highest level of rebate.

“If the Government were prepared to put say $10 million a year for several years into the feebate scheme, then the level of rebate for low emissions vehicles could be higher thereby significantly increasing the rate of uptake of low emission vehicles,” says Crawford.

He adds that the level at which a fee or rebate (and the size of the neutral zone) would need to be lowered with each successive year, so that over time these would become more challenging. If the Government agreed to contribute to the rebate fund this would also reduce over time.

LDV eDeliver 3: A $50,000 electric delivery van (if GST is ignored)

We drive LDV’s new battery-dedicated van, which offers huge potential.

CHINESE brand LDV is to launch a new purpose-built electric van in New Zealand with potential to transform the urban commercial delivery market.

The vehicle is the eDeliver 3, here in the first quarter of 2021. It’s a futuristic-looking van that will be offered in short- and long-wheelbase forms, with a choice of two battery packs, payloads of up to 1020kg … and the cheapest option will achieve the distributor’s sub-$50,000 target, but just $10. And only with goods and services tax excluded.

Add in the tax and the $49,990 ‘sticker’ ratchets up a further $7500. (The GST-excluded figure applies if a vehicle is bought for legitimate commercial use; a buyer can then often reclaim the GST).

One example is in New Zealand for evaluation by LDV importer Great Lake Motor Distributors. It’s a built to United Kingdom market specification, so is badged Maxus, the new name for LDV product in Europe, and has the larger of the two powertrains. That version costs $62,490 with the tax included.

“I can just see the eDeliver 3 zipping around Auckland,” beamed GLMD managing director Rick Cooper at the media event. “I see a very rosy future for this van.”

When MotoringNZ drove the van, pricing discussions with China’s SAIC Motor were still under way. However, Cooper seemed intent on dropping hints; he referred, for instance, to the $48,990 pricing of the recently-arrived MG ZS EV, also a SAIC product (but with another distributor).

GLMD has already dipped its toe in the commercial EV water with the larger EV80 van, which entered the market in 2018 with an $80,000 pricetag. It’s done okay; so far 51 have been sold.

But the eDeliver 3 has obvious potential to do much better. It will be first completely purpose-built electric van to enter the Kiwi new vehicle market. Designed from the ground up for electric power only, it uses a combination of alloy, high-strength steel and composite materials to keep weight down.

Experts say at least 140kg has been shaved off the weight via the use of these lightweight materials – and a classic illustration of that is the van’s bonnet, which is made of composite material and can be easily lifted unclipped and lifted off the vehicle to gain access to the electric motor.

When the eDeliver 3 does arrive, it will be available in short-wheelbase and long-wheelbase forms, and with a choice of 35kWh and the 52.5 kWh battery pack that is in the trial example. Range is up to 280km with the smaller pack and 400km with the larger.

The high power, low energy electric motor offers maximum power of 90 kilowatts, while peak torque is 255 Newton metres. This gives acceleration times to 100kmh of as low as 11 seconds.

A feature of the vehicle is that it provides DC and AC dual charging. In the DC mode the battery pack can be charged to 80 percent in just 45 minutes and on to 100 percent in 80 minutes. In the AC mode the charging time to 100 percent will be six to eight hours.

The short-wheelbase model will offer 4.8 cubic metres of load space, and up to 905kg payload depending on the size of the battery pack. The long-wheelbase version will have 6.3 cubic metres of cargo room, with up to 1029 payload if the fitted with the smaller battery pack.

That, said the GLMD people, will be a major selling point for the eDeliver 3 in a commercial delivery van environment in which cargo capacity is king.

Driving this new van is a fascinating experience – and that’s right from the beginning, when you discover that there’s no push-button start; instead the driver must turn an ignition key in the traditional way, and with the transmission in neutral.

From then it’s a matter of turning a rotary selector into D and heading off in an almost silent way. In typical electric vehicle style there’s instant torque, and there are two battery regeneration settings to help pick up charge when decelerating and braking – one is quite gentle and the other is more pronounced.

The eDeliver 3 immdiately impresses as an easy drive, with the frontal area separated from the load space in the interests of less noise and better crash safety, and the load area accessed by a sliding door on the left side and wide-opening rear doors.

The electric news doesn’t stop there.

GLMD also confirmed that when the eDeliver 3 does arrive in New Zealand, it is likely to be followed soon after by a second new electric van.

It will be the larger eDeliver 9, which will be based on the existing EV80 platform and boast a payload of up to 1400kg. Its battery pack is likely to be a larger 73 kWh version, which will give it a range of up to 270km. The van is expected during the second quarter of 2021. There has been no indication of pricing.

# This story was updated and altered on November 22, with the determined pricing included. Additional reporting by Richard Bosselman.

Kia scores big during troubled October

Kia took control of passenger car sales last month, its Sportage and Seltos respectively accomplishing first and second places for registration count.

KIA SELTOS ENJOYED A STRONG MONTH. The larger Sportage did even better.

KIA scored a notable triple win during October, its compact and medium sports utilities achieving as the biggest-selling vehicles, and the brand coming out on top in total passenger registrations.

October market statistics supplied by the Motor Industry Association today show the Kia Sportage was the most popular passenger vehicle in October, with 488 sales, followed by its smaller brother the Seltos, with 471.

That was sufficient to allow the Korean brand to achieve a total of 1276 passenger vehicle registrations for the month, knocking long-time leader Toyota, which achieved 1117 sales, into second place.

It all represents a big turnaround in a 2020 new passenger vehicle scene that up until now has been dominated by the Toyota RAV4.

In September, for example, the Toyota achieved 464 sales – whereas the Sportage and the Seltos each accrued about half that. In October, however, RAV4’s sales dropped to 291 units.

There was better news for Toyota in the commercial market, where the new Hilux moved into first place with 731 sales, knocking the previously dominant Ford Ranger into second. It achieved 686 sales.

the updated toyota Hilux appeared to score well in its first month of availability, bumping out Ford’s Ranger as the country’s favourite utility.

Both utes finished the month comfortably ahead of anything else – third place was taken by the Mitsubishi Triton with 282 registrations.

Toyota also remained the overall new vehicle market leader with a 17 percent share in October via 2070 registrations, followed by Ford with 11 percent and Kia with nine percent. And it remains dominant for the entire year to date thanks to a 17 percent share – well ahead of Ford on 10 percent.

October’s total new vehicles registrations continued their downward trend for 2020, coming in at 20.6 per cent below October last year. A total of 11,876 vehicles were registered, down 3089 units on the same month last year.

“Year to date the market is down 23.5 per cent, which is consistent recent months’ data confirming our expectations that 2020 will finish about 25 per cent down on 2019 volumes, said MIA chief executive David Crawford.

The top 10 most popular vehicles in October were: Toyota Hilux, 731 sales; Ford Ranger, 686; Kia Sportage, 488; Kia Seltos, 471; Toyota Corolla, 315; Mitsubishi ASX, 292; Toyota RAV4, 291; Mitsubishi Triton, 282; Mazda CX-5, 279; Suzuki Swift, 232.

Pandemic, sales rush depletes new vehicle stocks

New car sales have been running hot … but at what ultimate cost? Brands are running short of stock and the industry says buyer demand is racing ahead of ability to supply.

New vehicle stocks held in New Zealand are diminishing fast … and replenishment has slowed.

NEW vehicle distributors are facing a new Covid-19 crisis – not enough vehicles to sell for at least the remainder of this year.

An unexpected rush in sales over the past few months has accelerated the issue of diminishing stock availability, a ripple effect from Covid-driven global assembly line shutdowns that occurred months ago.

It’s a double-whammy that is leaving showrooms running low on stock with no easy respite in sight.

The organisation that speaks for the new vehicle industry has declined to cite any brands or cite any specific models and is cautious when discussing the severity of the situation.

The Motor Industry Association does, however, acknowledge there are now insufficient vehicle numbers to meet present buyer demand.

Says chief executive David Crawford: “I wouldn’t describe the situation as catastrophic … but it is lumpy.”

Talk at retail and distributor level is certainly awkward; popular models are becoming harder to secure and orders taken now might not be fulfilled until next year, while impending new products are being delayed and allocations being reduced.

One big provincial yard for a top make last week suggested the cars it held in its showroom could not be easily replaced. A metropolitan outlet for a popular premium brand also recently said ready availability of two core models has also been in jeopardy. The distributor for that make did not respond to questions about this.

New vehicle distributors normally carry up to 100 days’ stock for vehicles and large parts, but this has reduced by around 50 percent.

At the end of last month, the national inventory of new passenger vehicles was just over 11,000 units – the lowest in at least eight years and half the tally held in April – and it’s been worse for commercials, that stockpile have quartered to under 5000 vehicles.

Most distributors, at best, are carrying no more than about a month’s stock, according to the MIA, which has been collating information from factory-appointed new vehicle importers.

At retail level, this means an increasing count of outlets are keeping up their business by taking customer orders on understanding those buyers may have to wait until early next year before their purchases arrive.

Crawford suggests a combination of market forces and temporary vehicle supply constraints will continue for most of 2020.

While shipments keep arriving, there are now likely to be long wait times for some makes and models and customers who have pre-ordered will have priority over walk-ins.

“Supply of vehicles remains affected by reduced factory production in various geographic places due to Covid-19 restrictions.

“Distributors are also facing challenges predicting how much stock to order and hold.

“It has to be admitted the industry got caught by a strong June and July, once the Covid restrictions eased,” he says.

“The industry didn’t entirely anticipate the level of demand for new vehicles.

David Crawford, Motor Industry Association chief executive: “The industry didn’t entirely anticipate the level of demand for new vehicles.”

“We didn’t factor in that people who were unable to travel overseas on holiday, would decide to purchase a new vehicle instead – just like others would have decided to renovate a kitchen.”

Though already braced for a slowdown in sales when the year began, the new car market was nonetheless in good shape, having had a series of highly-profitable bumper years.

Coronavirus rendered all forecasts worthless. Assembly plants all around the world were forced to shut down – some for several weeks, some for up to two months - because of the pandemic.

Though most are back in business, many have yet to achieve full production. Even when assembly lines are back to full steam, delays from components suppliers are common.

The supply chain also hasn’t recovered. This is particularly the case with product coming out of Europe, which even under normal circumstances have to be ordered up to six months in advance.

However, it seems probable all makes and sourcing points have felt impact to some extent.

Also hurting New Zealand is the modest size of our market – there have already been instances were other countries more important to makers have been given higher priority.

All this means that as much as recent months of emergent retail frenzy was welcomed, it has also been a sting because it was unexpected.

While the MIA warned as early as in March it would be inevitable that the shock wave from Covid’s impact on global car making and the parts industry was inevitable, it didn’t predict that consumers would go into such a buying frenzy these last few months.

Data shared by the MIA for this story reveals how NZ’s relatively healthy vehicle stockpile before Covid has pretty much gone.

At the beginning of this year the national new passenger vehicle inventory stood at 16,049 vehicles.

new vehicle production has largely resumed .. but plants are rarely operating at full-scale pace and makers are sometimes steering product to bigger markets than New Zealand.

This rose to 20,327 vehicles in April, but the countrywide Level Four lockdown, then meant cars that landed but could not be retailed – hence, despite 5625 vehicles being cleared by Customs in April, only 707 vehicles were registered in that month.

Since then, the figures have been sliding as supply of vehicles built and in transit before the factory closures started to dwindle.

May’s inventory was 18,888, this reduced to 15,088 in June, to 12,593 in July and to 11,057 last month.

August’s count was the lowest in at least eight years but stock numbers are expected to reduce even further for at least the next two months.

Meanwhile, the import clearances are continuing at history low levels as they slowly recover to some normality – 2858 in May, 4619 in June, 4327 in July and 5405 in August – but they are not meeting the growing consumer demand. That’s at least 50 percent higher.

The commercial vehicle inventory that sat at around 12,000 vehicles in April and May had reduced to 4817 vehicles by the end of last month.

Since then, consumer demand has increased to the extent there were 3533 registrations in August – way ahead of the 962 vehicles that had cleared Customs. This means that for the remainder of the year there is virtually no fat in the commercial vehicle inventory.

Parts supply is also being severely affected by the pandemic. Prior to Covid-19, parts were transported to New Zealand by both air and sea, but air freight has now become too expensive due to reduced numbers of flights, and this has forced more use of sea freight which has much longer time frames, Crawford says.

The flow-on from the drop in new car availability is also being felt in the used car sector, with a commensurate drying up on late model pre-owned stock from fewer trade-ins occurring.

# Additional reporting by Richard Bosselman

August return ok, but market sliding away

No prizes for guessing the top sellers in August.

TOYOTA’S RAV4 cleaned out the opposition in new passenger vehicle sales during August, selling at more than double the rate of anything else.

And the Ford Ranger ute almost achieved the same in the commercial market, taking a massive 27 per cent market share.

But overall, new vehicle registrations in August were once again adversely affected by the Covid-19 restrictions, especially the alert level 3 in Auckland, reports the Motor Industry Association.

August registrations came in at 15.8 percent below August last year, with 10,610 new vehicles registered, which was down 1997 units on the same month in 2019.

“Year to date the market is down 23.6 percent in a year that remains heavily affected by the Covid-19 pandemic,” said MIA chief executive David Crawford.

The shining lights among the depressed level of sales were the Ranger and RAV4.

Ranger achieved 964 registrations, way ahead of the Toyota Hilux whose 524 registrations were no doubt affected by the fact the current model was in runout prior to launch of a new model this month.

The massive success of Ranger allowed Ford to retain the market lead in the commercial sector with a 30 per cent share, followed by Toyota on 19 per cent and Mitsubishi on 11 per cent.

The RAV4, with its hybrid models at the forefront, achieved 638 registrations to dominate the passenger and SUV segment – in second place was the Kia Sportage with 313 sales, followed by its smaller brother the Seltos with 243 registrations.

No surprises then that Toyota was market leader for passenger and SUV registrations with a 19 per cent share, followed by Kia on 10 per cent and Suzuki on 8 per cent.

Overall the top segments for August were once again dominated by SUVs. Top spot went to medium SUVs with a 22 per cent share, followed by 4x4 utes with 18 per cent, and then compact SUVs also with 18 per cent.

Top 15 most popular vehicles in August

Ford Ranger                  964 sales
Toyota RAV4                638
Toyota Hilux                 524
Mitsubishi Triton          376
Kia Sportage                 313
Kia Seltos                     243
Suzuki Swift                 220
Toyota C-HR                 200
Mazda BT-50                199
Mazda CX-5                  197
Toyota Corolla              194
Holden Colorado          193
Hyundai Tucson            188
Toyota Yaris                 183
Mitsubishi Outlander   159  

Thanks but no thanks for the hybrid

OPINION: These vehicles are helping clean up New Zealand’s emissions act – but bureaucracy won’t recognise them. Why?

Toyota has led the way with hybrid systems … and has reaped reward as result.

PITY the poor petrol-electric hybrid. You know – the vehicle that is electrified but doesn’t need to be plugged-in to be charged. Yeah that’s the one – the vehicle that’s currently selling like the proverbial hot cakes in New Zealand.

So why pity the hybrid? Its because as a vehicle type, it’s stuck in a sort of environmental no-man’s land.

On one hand, the Government refuses to recognise them. Its Ministry of Transport says hybrids cannot be considered electric vehicles because their batteries cannot be charged from an external electric source. So hybrids are not included in Government statistics on the size of this country’s EV fleet.

But on the other hand, the motor industry does recognise them. The Motor Industry Association says the Government view is too narrow and ignores technologies which are achieving fuel consumption the equivalent or better than plug-in hybrids.

That includes hydrogen by the way, because vehicles carrying that new technology can’t be plugged-in either, despite the fact the so-called ‘green’ hydrogen is 100 per cent emissions-free.

But through all of this, the hybrid itself probably doesn’t care. That’s because it is selling in far greater numbers than EVs. Last month, for example, 1045 hybrids were registered new in New Zealand.

As an aside, within that statistic there’s another statistic that dramatically underlines the current popularity of hybrids. Of those 1045 registrations, 641 of them were Toyota RAV4 hybrids – which represented 80.5 per cent of all RAV4s registered last month.

RAV4 hybrid has become a strong seller in 2020.

The overall story of Toyota hybrids is impressive. In 2017 the brand sold 1337 of them, this increased to 5159 last year, and to July this year there have been 3627 sold. And the hybrid sales growth will surely continue next year following the recent launch of the new Yaris hybrid, and scheduled future launches of hybrid versions of the Highlander SUV and possibly even Hilux ute.

Not only that, but we’ve also now got Suzuki in the game with the new Swift hybrid, and Subaru with the e-Boxer models.    

Meanwhile, while hybrid sales are going great guns, EV sales aren’t. Last month a measly 90 EV and 69 PHEV vehicle were registered new, and 317 registered used. All this goes to show that despite the Government’s push to encourage kiwi motorists to buy EVs, the change isn’t happening anywhere near as quickly as anticipated.

Back in 2016 the Government introduced its Electric Vehicles Programme, which among other things exempted owners of EVs from paying Road User Charges until the end of 2021 or until EVs made up 2 per cent of the national vehicle fleet, whichever came first.

The aim was to have at least 64,000 EVs on our roads by the end of next year. It’s now obvious that’s not going to happen – as of July this year the national EV fleet size (both those purchased new and imported used from Japan) was 21,568 vehicles, which represented about 0.5 per cent of the total national light vehicle fleet which has just moved past 4 million.

Prius introduced New Zealand to petrol-electric drivetrains and thousands roam our roads. But consumer tastes have moved on.

It’s a pity, because it is a given that action must be taken to protect New Zealand’s climate by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The light vehicles we drive are a vital part of this action, as transport accounts for nearly 20 per cent of all this country’s CO2 emissions – and light vehicles account for 70 per cent of that.

But the reality is that at this stage EVs are simply too expensive to buy, and range anxiety remains a big issue, particularly in regional New Zealand. And remember, while they are impressively inexpensive to run now, from December next year EVs will be hit with RUCs of $76 per 1000 km, which will add an average of close to $900 to their annual operating costs.

So what’s a motorist with an environmental conscience to do? The obvious economical answer is to buy hybrid until the market has finally reached the stage where full EVs are fully affordable, with better range on a single charge, and there is a comprehensive nation-wide charging network properly up and running.

That way, the motorists concerned can at least make some contribution to reducing the nation’s exhaust emissions. That’s because while hybrids still run on the dreaded fossil fuel (aka petrol), they are generally far more economical than standard petrol models – for example, whereas a 2.5-litre all-wheel drive petrol-engined RAV4 has average exhaust emissions of 156g/km, the hybrid version’s emissions are 112 g/km.

Adding to this scenario is the matter of what the Government – whichever one it is in the wake of the September election – is going to do next.

Subaru and Suzuki both joined the hybrid club this year. Will that effort pay off?

Last year the current Government proposed its Clean Car Initiative which contains some very good ideas. It envisages a Clean Car Standard (a fuel efficiency standard) and a Clean Car Discount (a feebate scheme that would apply a rebate or penalty depending on exhaust emissions), all to financially discourage motorists away from gas guzzlers and towards smaller, more fuel efficient cars – and in particular, EVs.

Trouble is, a few weeks ago Government coalition partner New Zealand First put a stop to that plan, and the Greens responded by promising they would make the feebate proposal an election issue. The re-emergence of Covid-19 has prevented this from happening yet, but it is most likely it will happen.

Meanwhile, we have the transport and environmental bureaucrats desperately hoping kiwi motorists will join the EV cause. Truth be told, many would love to – but a lack of financial incentive other than not having to pay RUCs for a further 16 months, presents as a major barrier to this happening.

Let’s hope then that the incoming Government is quick off the mark in introducing fresh incentive, preferably the proposed Clean Car Initiative. Meanwhile, there are tens of thousands of motorists throughout New Zealand who are doing their environmental bit by opting for vehicles with obvious clean credentials but which the bureaucrats won’t officially recognise: hybrids.

Stay at home, buy a car

Latest monthly registration figures have surprised the industry, but it’s not expecting this boom to last.

RAV4 was a sales star for Toyota last month.

CASHED-up Covid-19 returnees look to be contributing to a spike in national new vehicle sales – with the July count almost at record level.

Motor Industry Association data for last month suggest registrations of 12,263 new vehicles; that’s 3.1 percent and 366 units better than the count for July of 2019 and also the second-strongest July ever recorded by the MIA.

The result was also in stark contrast to June, when sales of 11,514 vehicles were recorded. That count presented as a 17.5 percent on the same month of the previous year.  Yet June was in itself way better than April and May when, in the midst of the Covid-19 lockdown, 1039 and 8313 registrations were respectively recorded.

MIA chief executive David Crawford describes the July result as surprisingly strong, given the current worldwide economic conditions.

“Returning cashed-up Kiwis and alternative spending to international travel are thought to be behind the July result,” he says.

Market leader Toyota New Zealand says no-one could have anticipated the level of sales last month, given that it is usually a cooling off period in the wake of May and June, which have traditionally been big sales months.

Colorado is leading Holden’s sales runout

“The level of new orders across our entire range has surpassed our expectations,” says chief executive Neeraj Lala, adding that TNZ’s July result was the biggest retail month since the launch of the brand’s Drive Happy business model in April of 2018.

Crawford warns however that as the year progresses the economic outlook is for a continuing tightening market.

Despite July’s good result, the tough three month during the opening half of 2020 have meant that year to date the new vehicle market is down 24.8 percent or 21,694 vehicles.

July saw 8200 passenger vehicles and SUVs registered which was 3.5 percent up on July last year, while 4063 commercial vehicle registrations were up 2.3 percent.

The top three models for the month were the Toyota RAV4 SUV, followed by two utes, the Ford Ranger and Toyota Hilux.

Toyota remained the overall market leader with an 18 percent share, followed by Ford with 10 percent and Mitsubishi with eight percent.

Toyota also led passenger and SUV sales with a 17 percent share thanks to solid sales of the RAV4, Corolla and C-HR, followed by Kia on nine percent largely due to sales of Sportage and Seltos SUVs, and Mitsubishi with eight percent, thanks to continuing good sales of ASX and Outlander.

Ford regained the market lead in the commercial vehicle sector with a 22 percent share, resting on the imprint of its top-selling Ranger ute but also good sales of Transit van. Toyota was second on 20 percent thanks to Hilux and Hiace van, while soon-to-disappear Holden was third with a 10 percent share via sales of 381 Colorado utes.

Overall the top segments in July were dominated by SUVs. Top spot went to SUV Medium with a 22 percent share, followed by SUV compact on 19 percent. The Pick Up/Chassis 4x4 segment held 16 percent share.

Last month’s top 15

Toyota RAV4                 796 sales
Ford Ranger                  781
Toyota Hilux                 627
Mitsubishi Triton          383
Holden Colorado          381
Kia Sportage                 320
Mitsubishi ASX              265
Suzuki Swift                  251
Toyota Corolla              230
Nissan Navara               229
Mazda BT-50                227
Mazda CX-5                  222
Mitsubishi Outlander    220
Hyundai Tucson            206
Kia Seltos                     184

New grand plan: 250,000 EVs by 2025

The country’s major electric vehicle supporter has unveiled a new raft of proposals.

NEW Zealand’s grand plan to have 64,000 electric vehicles on the roads by 2021 is proving a failure – so now the sector has hatched an ambitious new plan to have at least 250,000 of the vehicles on our roads by 2025.

Drive Electric, the organisation that wants to make EV ownership mainstream, has announced a new campaign involving five key policy platforms it wants the next Government to adopt to meet that target.

It’s a tough ask, if the poor results of the Government’s Electric Vehicles Programme announced four years ago are any indication.

That plan involved a package of measures with a target of doubling the number of EVs in New Zealand every year to reach 64,000 cars by next year. But the target has nowhere near been reached - by mid-year this year the total had reached just 20,916 – with more than 13,000 of those registrations used cars imported from overseas.

But Drive Electric argues that if New Zealand is going to meet climate change targets set by the Zero Carbon Act, it will need to see at least 250,000 new EVs on the roads by 2025, and for this trend to continue through to 2030. And that number should not include hybrids, it adds, because those non plug-in vehicles are still powered by fossil fuels.

In an interview with MotoringNZ, Drive Electric chair Mark Gilbert, pictured, criticised New Zealand’s lack of action regarding the takeup of EVs.

“Dear old New Zealand seems to be stuck in a time warp,” he said. “But nothing’s going to change if nothing changes. That’s why we are putting this proposal out there – to point out that you’ve got to actually do stuff to make thing happen.

Drive Electric points out that New Zealand must reduce emissions by around 60 per cent by 2030 to stay within 1.5C of warming, which is the target contained in the Zero Carbon Act.

Road transport is the second-largest source of emissions in New Zealand. Our light vehicle fleet constitutes more than 90 per cent of the travel on New Zealand roads. Therefore, e-mobility is an essential part of our transport future.

Gilbert adds that for the desired level of EV ownership to be achieved, New Zealand needs a bi-partisan target and pathway that will create certainty and guide investment in e-mobility.

“It is fair to New Zealanders to be upfront about the changes that are happening when it comes to cars, which for many if their first or second-biggest asset.

“With emissions targets that need to be met, and automotive technology shifting towards emissions-free, the time is now to plan for a future New Zealand that embraces e-mobility.”

Drive Electric proposes five key actions for the next Government.

It wants development of a bi-partisan pathway for the transport sector to deliver New Zealand’s climate change objectives. This should feature clear targets and a well-defined transition pathway which engages industry and has bi-partisan support. This would create investment certainty for future governments, transport agencies, businesses and individuals.

It wants businesses to be encouraged to purchase EVs for their fleets. Such vehicles are yet to reach price parity with new petrol and diesel vehicles, and corporates may need additional encouragement to invest in them in the short term. Policy initiatives such as changing fringe benefit tax to enable private use of corporate EVs, or increasing the rate of depreciation of such cars, would incentivise their uptake. Other tax and purchase incentives could be explored, based on international experience in markets such as Sweden.

It wants the Government to take leadership in EV use. Currently, less than 1 per cent of the government fleet of 16,000 vehicles are EVs, and yet the New Zealand Government Procurement body has a goal to have the government’s fleet emissions-free by 2025. The Government could take a leadership position by executing on this position and moving the entire fleet to electric.

It wants New Zealand made a globally attractive market for EVs. Without a clear target and pathway to transition, the country risks being overlooked by international car manufacturers as a market for new technology, competitive pricing and ranges in EVs. Worse, without clear government guidance on EV targets and emissions standards, we risk becoming a dumping ground for cheap petrol/diesel and hybrid vehicles from UK and Japan as they move to EVs.

It wants New Zealanders to be encouraged to move to EVs. Setting a bi-partisan target and transition pathway would create future certainty for motorists to consider EVs, especially as the cost of ownership reaches parity.

A discussion document produced by Drive Electric in support of its new campaign says transforming New Zealand’s fleet to EVs would have positive impacts beyond reducing emissions.

The country would be less reliant on foreign oil, which would reduce the balance of payments. Air pollution would reduce. Over time, families would save money on fuel and operating costs, particularly as the total cost of ownership of EVs is set to reach parity with petrol and diesel vehicles before 2025.

“Finally, New Zealand is an ideal market for electrification, because our electricity is renewable,” says the document.

Drive Electric is a not-for-profit organisation with a membership that represents the entire e-mobility ecosystem including electricity companies, car manufacturers, and finance companies. The five key policy platforms were devised by these members, supported by external experts including investment consultant Dr Paul Winton, economist Shamubeel Eaqub, and sustainability consultant James Walker.

Dr Winton, the founder of climate action group the 1Point5 Project, says reaching 250,000 EVs in the national fleet by 2025 is a challenging but realistic target for New Zealand.

“If we were to achieve EV adoption rates similar to what Norway has today for new-to-fleet vehicles by 2025, this would result in 250,000 EV in the light fleet. If we continued at that rate, our light fleet would comprise 30-40 per cent electric or zero emissions vehicles by 2030.

Dr Winton claims New Zealand’s transition would be easier than when Norway began 10 years ago, because EVs are becoming less expensive and more capable.

“By 2025 there will be no clear reason for consumers or businesses not to buy EVs. To buy a petrol or diesel vehicle in 2025 would be to buy a car that is more expensive at the outset, more expensive to run and repair, has a shorter lifespan, performs worse, and with higher emissions.”

New vehicle sales fall confirms Covid-19 recession

Good news and bad in registrations figures for June.

Toyota’s RAV4 was the month’s most popular model.

JUNE’S new passenger vehicle registrations count is proof the country is in a Covid-caused recession.

The easing of the coronavirus lockdown saw Kiwis resume buying new vehicles in June – but the rate is much lower than for the same period of last year.

Registration statistics supplied by the Motor Industry Association show 11,514 new vehicles being sold last month. 

That represents a 17.5 percent or 2438 unit decline on June last year, although it’s also an improvement on counts for April and May, when 1039 and 8313 registrations were respectively recorded.

Theyear-to-date rate is down 29.1 percent on 2019, says MIA chief executive officer David Crawford.

“The first six months of the year has been a year of two quarters,” he said. “The first quarter saw sales of 32,833 new vehicles – while the April to June quarter has seen just 20,866 new registrations, a reduction of 11,967 units for the quarter.

Crawford added the month of June reflected a steady but weaker market compared to 2019. Sales of both passenger and commercial vehicles were down, confirmation the market is tightening its belt in a recession.

Of the total number of new vehicle registrations in June, 7411 of them were passenger vehicles and SUVs which was down 15.3 percent on 2019 volumes, while registrations of 5103 commercial vehicles were down 21.2 percent on the same time last year.

But commercial vehicles continued to dominate individual sales, with the top three models all being utes – the Ford Ranger with 641 sales, Toyota Hilux with 595 and the Holden Colorado with 482.

Easily the most popular passenger vehicle was the Toyota RAV4 medium SUV which achieved 403 sales, followed by the Kia Sportage and Toyota Corolla.

But while the top three models for the month were the one-tonne utes, overall the top segments for June were dominated by SUVs.  Top spot went to medium-sized SUVs with a 19 percent share, followed by compact SUVs with 18 per cent.

Toyota remains overall market leader with a 16 percent share via 1874 registrations, followed by Holden with 9 per cent and Ford on 8 per cent.

Top 15 in June

Ford Ranger                  641 registrations
Toyota Hilux                 595
Holden Colorado          482
Toyota RAV4                 403
Mitsubishi Triton          390
Kia Sportage                 287
Toyota Hiace                275
Toyota Corolla              271
Nissan Navara               251
Suzuki Swift                  227
Mazda CX-5                  216
Kia Seltos                     202
Hyundai Tucson            191
Nissan X-Trail                179
Mazda BT-50                170     

Buying a car preferred to riding a bus

Used car sellers are reporting intriguing customer feedback.

driving seems preferable to riding a bus … or a train

COVID-19 concern is driving Kiwis into buying cars in preference to using public transport.

So claims a company providing shipping and transport logistics for at least one third of ex-Japan used vehicles.

Autohub New Zealand Ltd chief executive Frank Willett says anecdotal feedback from numerous used car dealers is that Covid-19 has created a client who prefers to own a vehicle rather than take a bus

“No-one’s quite sure whether it is fear or paranoia that is causing this, and whether it will continue – but it’s happening,” he says.

“And the trend looks to being confirmed by the public transport operators themselves, who are reporting low patronage right now,” says Willett, who also wonders if current low price of petrol is also contributing to this buying trend.

frank willett

The interest upswing is encouraging news for the country’s used vehicle dealers who – like their new vehicle counterparts – have been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown.

Under normal circumstances up to 13,000 used cars are imported from Japan each month, their registrations roughly on par with the number of new vehicles that are registered here. Last year, for example, 154,863 new and 151,871 used vehicles were registered in New Zealand.

But then Covid-19 struck and New Zealand went into Level 4 lockdown, which has resulted in registrations of both new and used vehicles fall by more than three-quarters year-to -date to the end of April.

Adding to the crisis for the used car importers was the fact that many of them imported more vehicles than usual prior to a March 1 introduction of tougher government regulations that required all used imports to have electronic stability control.

Willett estimates that the number of used import orders prior to the March 1 deadline swelled by as much as 20 percent.

“There’s quite a bit of momentum involved in the used import business,” he says.

 “The vehicles get purchased in Japan, then they go to export yards, then to shipside for loading, then they’re on the water to New Zealand.  There’s about four to six weeks of momentum in this supply chain.

“When Covid-19 hit and we went into lockdown, we might have been able to turn the proverbial tap off here, but Japan didn’t. As a result, the supply chain continued to function.”

This in turn created problems with vehicle stockpiling and storage in New Zealand, because while ports were considered essential businesses and were able to unload the imported vehicles, the transport of the vehicles wasn’t. So they couldn’t be delivered to the end user.

This has eased since the country went to Level Two on May 13, but there are still a lot of vehicles still in storage, says Willett.

“At one stage our company alone had 2500 in storage. I’d estimate that the current total would be as many as 20,000 – that’s way in excess of normal.”

With Level Two the trade is back in business and seems to be working through pent-up demand.

“Our feedback has been that a lot of customers were happy to wait out the lockdown – but that as soon as they could go to a used car yard, they would.”

Even so, the used import industry is expecting the market to be subdued for most of the remainder of the year, says Willett. Contributing to it all will be market uncertainties that are normally associated with the lead-up to any general election.

Meanwhile, a foreign exchange specialist says the fluctuating value of the New Zealand Dollar against the volatile Japanese Yen has been causing financial headaches for businesses in the automotive sector.

Matt Spehr of Western Union Business Solutions says the Yen was already the most volatile of the major currencies for New Zealand importers before Covid-19 hit.

“Over the past 10 years it has moved 10 percent up or down on average every three months,” he says.

“However, the first quarter of 2020 has doubled that average, moving an incredible 20 percent from around 73 Yen for one New Zealand Dollar in January to below 60 JPY to 1 NZD at the end of the March. This has had a significant financial impact for most of our country’s car importers.”

Spehr says many car importers and dealers will try to reduce this impact to their profit margins by using forward contracts to lock in exchange rates for a few months in advance. This gives a business certainty about how many Yen it will get for the Dollar.

Manley’s record run keeps rolling on

Covid-19 is preventing a leading New Zealand motor industry executive from retiring.

manley took over when the nz vehicle assembly industry was in a state of flux. closing the line at wiri was an early job.

HE’S the world’s longest-serving Nissan managing director and wants to retire – but the Covid-19 pandemic is preventing it.

John Manley runs Nissan New Zealand. He was supposed to retire at the end of April after 39 years working for the Japanese brand – 20 of them in his present position.

The plan was for his role to be taken over by Ben Hamilton, on transfer to New Zealand from Nissan Australia. But then the pandemic hit, and both New Zealand and Australia went into lockdown – which meant the Australian couldn’t get across the ditch to take up his new job.

Not that it mattered – because Manley couldn’t do what he planned to do anyway.

“We were supposed to head off on a trip to Canada,” he explains.

“But then in what seemed the blink of an eye I was unable to retire, my wife Helen was made redundant as a flight attendant, our daughter was also made redundant, and we ended up stuck at home.

“It’s amazing how quickly things changed. Everything looked tickedy-boo – and then the whole world closed down.”

john manley - world’s longest-seving Nissan ceo

The plan now is for Manley to continue with Nissan New Zealand until his replacement can get across the ditch to his new job.

“It’s not a hassle at all,” says Manley. “All our plans went pear-shaped anyway, so I’m more than happy to help out.”

When John Manley does retire, he will finish as New Zealand’s longest-serving motor industry executive. He’s also considered to be the world’s longest-serving Nissan managing director.

His motor industry career began 39 years ago when he started work as a new vehicle salesperson at Newmarket Nissan in Auckland. Prior to that he was a bricklayer.

“I was sitting on a job one day, it was absolutely pissing down with rain and I thought ‘there’s gotta be more to life than this’.

“I flicked through a newspaper and saw this job advertised by the local dealer offering a car and the promise of pretty good money so I thought ‘that’s me.’ And that’s how it started.”

At that time the dealership was a factory shop, Nissan NZ’s head office was in Lovegrove Crescent in Otara, and the brand’s assembly plant and national parts warehouse was at Wiri.

 He progressed up the corporate ladder, becoming sales manager and fleet sales manager before being appointed dealer principal at Takapuna Nissan. Then in 1997 he moved to Nissan NZ as national sales manager, and was promoted to managing director three years later.

Manley took over the big job at a time when New Zealand’s motor vehicle assembly was in a state of flux.

The Government’s plan had been to gradually decrease import duty on vehicles over a period of years to allow the importation of fully-built up product. But in the 1998 Budget it instead made the sudden announcement to drop all import duties several years ahead of schedule.

This had an immediate effect of making motor vehicle assembly un-viable in New Zealand, and Manley – like the heads of every other brand involved in CKD assembly in the country – had to begin the process of shutting down assembly operations.

At that stage Nissan NZ had about 400 employees building 40 vehicles a day at Wiri. But thanks to their high levels of training, the vast majority were able to be re-employed in other industries by the time the plant closed down a few months after the Budget announcement.

“It created some immediate difficulties, but it was the correct decision and a better option than a slow wind-down,” Manley recalls.

“And from that point on we at Nissan NZ had access to a wider range of Japanese domestic product that had a greater specification level.”

From a business perspective the halt of CKD assembly, and move to a fully CBU regime, represented dramatic change. In one fell swoop Nissan NZ went from manufacturing to becoming an operation focussed more on sales and marketing.

overseeing the release of the latest juke should be manley’s last big gig.

Adding to complications at that time was the fact that Nissan Motor Company had entered into a strategic partnership with French manufacturer Renault to form what was known as the Nissan Alliance. Manley says this in itself caused a quantum shift in focus and priorities – all of which had a major impact on operations. But the impact was positive, he adds.

One such impact has been the ability to source product from all over the world. For example, today New Zealand sources a selection of vehicles from Japan, Thailand, USA, and United Kingdom that best suit the Kiwi motoring environment.

And the benefits of that wide international choice are best illustrated by what vehicles John Manley will take with him when he is finally able to retire. He’s going to have a Thailand-sourced Navara ute, while his wife Helen will have a United States-built Pathfinder SUV.

“That will cover every eventuality,” he quips.

And what does John Manley see of the future of the motor industry in New Zealand?

“I see the industry constantly evolving to meet the requirements of consumers,” he says.

“The current pandemic will provide further opportunity for revision, but basically we are a people industry – an industry building vehicles that fulfil consumer needs and aspirations. The personal interaction with the customer is the highlight,” he says.

And insofar as his career goes? Lots of memories, no regrets, plenty of quiet pride.

“Not a bad effort for a brickie, I’d say.”