New Zealand’s electric vehicle market witnessed a surge in customer demand last month, with the penetration rate exceeding 50%.
It is indeed a significant development, considering that the country’s EV penetration rate was only 30% in November 2023.
EV sales – December 2023
New Zealand’s all-electric vehicle registrations reached 4,455 units under the broader light vehicle segment in December 2023, EVDB data revealed. This figure enabled BEVs to account for 20.1% of the market.
Interestingly, China’s MG4 and the Nissan Leaf were among the most popular models in the country. However, the majority of the Nissan Leaf units were used vehicle imports from Japan. On the other hand, the 622 MG4 advanced as the top-selling model in the light vehicle segment regardless of fuel type.
In addition, New Zealand registered 1,610 plug-in hybrids last month. There were also new model launches in the country, including the BYD Seal (59 sales), the Subaru Solterra and its Toyota twin, the BZ4 (50 sales), and the Jeep Avenger (35 sales).
BEVs reportedly accounted for 39% of the 10,000 new passenger car sales in December, with 3,357 units, up 23% month-on-month. PHEVs also grew from just 10% in November 2023 to 12% last month with 987 sales. Moreover, plugless hybrids sold 2,644 units and gained a 31% market share.
Traditional internal combustion engine-powered vehicles sold 1,338 petrol and 233 diesel, demonstrating the significant shift to EVs.
Driving factor
The surge in demand in December 2023 was primarily due to the imminent changes to the “ute tax” in the new year, according to Kompulsa.
For context, it is a bonus malus tax that significantly lowered electric vehicle prices through incentives. In contrast, it raised the pricing of ICE vehicles to encourage people to consider buying more sustainable alternatives.
Therefore, New Zealanders were highly likely prompted to take advantage of the government incentives before they ended, resulting in a short-term rush.
Top BEVs
Presented below are the most popular BEV models in New Zealand in December:
| Ranking | Models | Sales | MoM Changes |
| 1 | MG4 | 622 | up from 468 |
| 2 | BYD Atto 3 | 428 | up from 337 |
| 3 | Tesla Model Y | 356 | down from 544 last month |
| 4 | Tesla Model 3 | 202 | wasn’t in the top 10 last month |
| 5 | BYD Dolphin | 163 | up from 95 |
| 6 | Hyundai Kona | 160 | – |
| 7 | BYD Seal | 159 | – |
| 8 | Kia EV6 | 151 | – |
| 9 | Great Wall Motors ORA | 114 | – |
| 10 | Ford Mustang Mach-E | 90 | – |
Top PHEVs
Here are the rankings for the top-selling PHEV models in New Zealand last month:
| Ranking | Models | Sales |
| 1 | Mitsubishi Outlander | 320 |
| 2 | Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross | 249 |
| 3 | Ford Escape | 133 |
| 4 | Kia Sorrento | 38 |
| 5 | MG HS | 32 |
| 6 | Cupra Formentor | 32 |
| 7 | Kia Niro | 21 |
| 8 | Jeep Compass | 19 |
| 9 | Mini Countryman | 16 |
| 10 | Mazda CX 60 | 15 |
Last month, the top-selling auto brand in New Zealand was MG (711), followed by another Chinese giant, BYD (650). American electric automaker Tesla landed third with sales of 558 EVs.
Impressively, New Zealand’s BEV and PHEV sales increased by more than twofold over the last two years to 73,000 and 30,000 by the end of December 2023, respectively. However, the imminent changes in the government’s tax incentive may disrupt the current growth trend. Therefore, buyers must hurry to take advantage of the incentives while they still can.
It would undoubtedly be interesting to see how New Zealand’s EV industry would fare in 2024, considering its goals of phasing out fossil fuel-based vehicles by 2035.
