It was a mostly stellar year for all the 4×4 and 4×2 pickups in the top 15 light commercial table with only two brands selling fewer vehicles in 2016 than 2015.
Nissan and Volkswagen were the two brands which sold fewer light commercials in 2016 than the previous corresponding period, 53 fewer Navara and 152 less Amarok to be exact, according to figures received today from the Motor Industry Association.
The Ford Ranger dominated the New Zealand market selling 8478 units in 2015 an increase of 1660 units over 2015, while at number two on the list the Toyota Hilux increased its 2015 total by 566 to 6187 units for 2016.
Holden strengthened its 2015 total by 153 units to 3739 for 2016 to retain third-place on the table.
In fourth place on the table, two places higher than 2015 Mitsubishi enjoyed significant growth in Triton sales up by 753 units to 3182.
Mitsubishi Motors New Zealand (MMNZ) head of marketing Daniel Cook attributes the Tritons success to the price-pointed Triton 4×2 GLX-R at $29,990 which has driven the bulk of the sales growth.
Cook says that this Triton model appealed to small business and private buyers in 2016 and he says people like the styling more than its predecessor, as well as the value proposition offered by the truck’s specification and the 10-year warranty.
MMNZ introduced additional vehicles in November as part of the MY17 range, including a high specification Triton VRX in 4×4 and 4×2 configurations.
For the MY17 range, MMNZ also added an automatic transmission option to its Triton single cab 4×2 and 4×4 models as well as the Triton Club cab 4×4 model.
Cook says the demand for manual transmission models is dropping off in favour of automatics, particularly from fleet customers.
MMNZ won some national fleet accounts in 2016, including New Zealand’s largest fleet, Downer, and it expects to see the same volume of growth for Triton in 2017 on the back of this and other new fleet business.
“The delivery schedule is looking very strong, and we expect to repeat the growth of Triton in 2017 from fleet business as well as SME and private sales,” says Cook.
Nissan fell once place in the sales table for 2016 to fifth place because it sold 53 less Navara models at 3093 units.
The Isuzu D-Max retained the seventh position on the sales table but grew by 690 units to 2386 registrations in 2016.
At number eight, Mazda saw 433 more BT-50 sales in 2016 for a total of 1814 units.
SsangYong rose two places up the sales table to number ten, increasing sales of its Actyon Sports pick up by 216 units to a total of 903.
Volkswagen, however, dropped four places down the lists as it saw 152 fewer Amarok sales than 2015 at 673 units for 2016.
