New car stats

Kiwis have an increasing love affair with cars, notching up just under 4.5 million of them for a population of just over five million.

The number of new cars registered on our roads continues to grow.

In 2021 there were 112,008 new registrations, and in 2022 (despite supply issues) there were 116,334 new passenger vehicles registered on our roads. The figure excludes the Ford Ranger (11,577) and Toyota Hilux (9787), the two most popular cars last year, which fall into the commercial category.

While utility vehicles (utes) dominate New Zealand sales charts, 2022 also proved a boom year for EV sales, with a record 15,670 new pure electric vehicles registered in New Zealand.

More than 13% of all new passenger vehicles on our roads were fully electric, and if you add in hybrids and plug-in hybrids the figure jumps to almost 35% of all new passenger vehicles sold being electrified.