Romania Passenger Car Sales : 2025 (Jan-Oct)

For October, registrations were up 11% but YTD they are down 4%. The year started slowly but is picking up. Local brand Dacia leads the way and then some. Its share is down slightly compared to 2024 but still in a commanding position. 

Toyota's market share of 9.6% is a record for the marque in Romania and Škoda's best since 2019. MG is up to 12th in only its second year in the country, so quite an improvement. Chinese brands have yet to make much impact. 

Sales by model for Dacia were the Logan (11,639), Duster (10,507), Sandero (6,528), Jogger (2,396), the just released Bigster (2,181 - pic above) and Spring (1,189 - pic below) for which sales have gone quiet lately. Škoda's strongest was the Octavia (3,846) with Toyota's best selling model the Corolla (3,831).

Data source: DGPCI. Pictures: Dacia.

NZ Top 31 Premium Models : 2025 (Q1-Q3)

Top lists are dominated by mainstream models and premium models rarely get a look in. In New Zealand, premium tend to be more premium than say Europe, with more kit included as standard. Well. that's what we are told to justify charging more.

To the right we see a colour coded chart based on brand origin. We will briefly look at each. USA has the top model with the Tesla Model Y. Is it really premium? It is generally considered so. Two Tesla models in the top ten.

The Ram P/U and Chervolet Silverado are included here. With right hand drive conversion cost and reasonable specification, I have added them.

Europe is finally in its element. Twenty three models in all. Having said that, the data source has a classification of BMW i which I assume covers all electric models combined as one model.

I was surprised to see the Polestar 2 second. Land Rover has three in the list, doing better than they would in the UK.

Japan has four Lexus models here, all in the top half of the chart. I view them as Toyota's with some bling which at least imbues them with a reputation of reliability.

Data source: NZTA. Photos Land Rover & MINI. 

NZ Top 50 Models : 2025 (Q1-Q3)

To the right is a chart showing the Top 50 passenger cars and pick up trucks. The list is colour coded to highlight the origin of the brand by country or region. 

Japanese brands have 28 models on the list and are green. Toyota is by far the best selling brand, having nine models on the list. Mitsubishi and Honda have four each, Suzuki, Mazda and Nissan three a piece. Subaru and Isuzu have one.

Korea (mustard coding) does well to have seven models. Kia outshines its sibling brand with five but only one makes the top ten.

China (orange) only has seven because of MG's European origin. They are basically new arrivals offering a value proposition to potential buyers. Expect more models to be added next year.

Europe (purple) has just four places, three from MG. Outside of the premium end of the market European brands are not that common.

USA. Ford has two in the top ten and Tesla further down but that's all folks. GM used to do well with Holden but that brand was retired a few years back.

Summary: The car industry has been relatively stable, but various factors are making that less so. Speed and flexibility are required to keep up but also to react if things don't work out as planned.

Chinese companies are in a real hurry to establish themselves as a real force in the industry. With New Zealand having an open market, there is nothing to stop new entrants from succeeding. 

Data source: NZTA. Photos: Haval & MG NZ.