This story first appeared in the June issue of AutoTalk – CLICK HERE to download the magazine FREE
New commercial registrations were up slightly in May while used commercial vehicle registrations took a hit for the month.
Total registrations of new trucks and buses over 3500kg GVM sits at 584 units for the month.
This is up by 1.2% compared the same period last year which saw 577 registrations for new commercials.
A total of 2626 new trucks and buses have hit the road in the year-to-date compared to 2474 for the same period last year.
Isuzu is market leader for the month of May with 128 units registered and a 21.9% market share.
The brand was up 13.3% year-on-year compared to the 113 units registered in May last year.
Fuso and Hino share second spot registering 80 units and taking 13.7% market share.
Fuso is up 19.4% (67) in the same period last year and Hino up 45.5% (55).
Mercedes-Benz follows, up 19.4% with 43 units registered, DAF up 40.9% (31), UD Trucks up 4.3% (24), Fiat down 14.8% (23), Iveco down 24.1% (22), Kenworth down 8.3% (22) and Volvo down 45.7% (19).
Meanwhile, total used imported truck and bus registrations saw a 15% decline in May with a total of 192 registered units for the month compared to 226 in the same period last year.
Isuzu took top spot for used commercial registrations, down 29.9% with 47 units compared to 67 in the same period last year.
Toyota comes in second, down 8.9% with 41 units registered compared to 45 the previous year.
Hino is third, down 17.4% with 38 units registered compared to 46 the previous year.
Mitsubishi follows, down 10% (18), Nissan unchanged (16), Fuso up 50% (6), Kenworth up 300% (4), Western Star up 200% (3) Ford down 33.3% (2) and Mercedes-Benz up 100% (2).
Isuzu NZ general manager Dave Ballantyne says the market is carrying strong momentum and it’s still a very “positive” environment from a commercial perspective. 
“The dealers are telling me enquiries are strong and orders are up so we’re very happy with the way things are going.”
Ballantyne says the significant backlog of trucks waiting to go through body builds has been an ongoing issue for months now and shows no sign of stopping.
This, on top of strong orders generated back in 2018, is still “driving” a lot of the strong results, he says.
The new heavy vehicle segment over 23,000kg GVM was up 17.2% year-on-year with a total of 252 registered units in May.
This compares to 215 in the same period the previous year.
Isuzu leads the segment, up 14.3% with 40 units registered and a 15.9% market share.
DAF comes in second, up 36.4% with 30 units registered and a 11.9% market share; Kenworth third, down 8.3% (22) and a 8.7% market share.
Mercedes-Benz follows, up 144.4% (22), Fuso up 137.5% (19), Volvo down 45.7% (19), Hino down 10% (18), Scania up 6.3% (17), Sinotruck up 1200% (13) and UD Trucks up 18.2% (13).
The new medium truck segment between 9000kg to 23,000kg GVM is up 19.1% year-on-year with a total of 106 registered units for May compared to 89 in the same period last year.
Isuzu takes the top spot, up 19.4% with 37 units and a 34.9% market share.
Hino comes in second, up 100% with 28 units and a 26.4% market share; Fuso third, up 5.9% (18) and a 17% market share.
UD Trucks follows, down 8.3% with 11 units and Iveco down 16.7% (5).
The new light commercial segment between 3500kg to 9000kg GVM featuring trucks and vans was up 9.7% with 203 units registered in May compared to 185 in the same period last year.
Isuzu leads the segment, up 16.7% with 49 registered units and a 24.1% market share. 
Fuso comes in second, up 8.1% with 40 units and a 19.7% market share; Hino third, up 61.9% (34) and a 16.7% market share.
Fiat follows, down 14.8% with 23, Mercedes-Benz down 23.1% (20), Foton up 50% (12) and Iveco down 30.8% (9).
Registrations for new commercial vehicles (under 3500kg) was down by 5.3% in May with 4635 registered units for the month.
This compares to 4892 registered in the same period last year.
Ford takes top spot, down 10.9% with 1009 units and a 21.8% market share.
Toyota is second, up 2.3% with 807 units and a 17.4% market share; Mitsubishi third, up 17.6% (514) and an 11.1% market share.
Holden follows, up 13.1% with 466, Nissan down 22.3% (362), Isuzu down 14.4% (273), Mazda up 4.6% (206), Volkswagen down 31.2% (141), Hyundai up 42.5% (114) and Mercedes-Benz up 1.1% (95).
The new vehicle market to the end of May is down 4.9% (3178 units) on the first five months of 2018.
Passenger registrations were down a whopping 17.8% to 7624 vehicles, year-to-date.
Motor Industry Association chief executive David Crawford says it’s signalling a weaker market.
“The out-turn for May 2019 indicates the new vehicle market is softening, consistent with weaker regional vehicle sales in 2019 across Australia and New Zealand,” he says.
The used heavy truck segment over 23,000kg was up 28.6% with 18 registrations in May. 
Kenworth leads this segment with four units registered; Hino and Western Star following behind with three each.
Used medium trucks between 9000kg and 23,000kg GVM were down 42.1% with 11 units registered for the month.
Isuzu lead with six units registered, followed by Hino (2) and Mitsubishi (1).
The used light truck segment was down 15% for the month with 159 units registered.
Isuzu and Toyota share top spot with each registering 41 units and a 25.8% market share.
Isuzu is down 32.8% compared to the same period last year and Toyota down 6.8% year-on-year.
Hino follows, down 2.9% with 33 units and a 20.8% market share, Mitsubishi down 10.5% (17), Nissan up 6.7% (16), Mitsubishi Fuso up 50% (6) and Dodge unchanged (1).
The new tractor market was down 5.4% year-on-year with 176 units registered in May compared to 186 in the same period last year.
John Deere took top spot, down 1.4% with 72 units registered and a 40.9% market share.
Kubota is in second spot, up 58.3% with 19 units and a 10.8% market share, Case IH and New Holland follow with 17 each.
Case IH is down 15% year-on-year and New Holland down 10.5%.
Massey Ferguson is down 42.9% with 16 units, Class down 22.2% (7), Case up 20% (6), Tractor up 25% (5) and Fendt unchanged with four units.
The used tractor market was down 20.4% year-on-year with 43 units registered in May.
John Deere is in top spot, unchanged with 13 units, Massey Ferguson down 33.3% (6), Case down 40% (3), Case IH up 50% (3), Ford unchanged (3) and Deutz-Fahr up 100% (2).
