NZ Lower Volume Brands (Europe - Mainstream) : 2026 (Jan-Oct)

Kiwis go more for Asian brands, but there are still those who prefer European. Škoda sells well enough as a cheaper, better value VW. SEAT was dropped here as they weren't popular whereas Cupra is more so. 

Škoda is well ahead here, with 631 sales. Over 300 short of 2025, the competition from you know who may have eroded the volume. 

Peugeot also has a loyal following, unlike Renault that doesn't sell cars here. With only half of the 2025 total with two months to go, another one down in numbers. 

Cupra is at the 300 mark but will have to exceed 400 to reach last year. Fiat is having a relatively good year, in 10 months well up in the 67 sales for the previous 12 months. 

Ineos is down over half. The Grenadier should be popular here but numbers suggest otherwise. Supply issues and a lack of a broader dealer network (just four) not helping. 

I wonder how much longer Citroën will be around, although officially still imported. Opel has left. It arrived in 2022 as an EV brand but the end of rebates ended sales here.  

Data source: NZTA. Photos: Škoda (Superb) & Cupra (Terramar).

NZ Medium Volume Brands (Europe - Premium) : 2026 (Jan-Oct)

With two months to go, the 2026 figures for these four is impressive. These sort of vehicle has plenty of takers. 

Land Rover are particularly sought after, the Defender taking 46% of that marque's registrations. It is a mere 56 units short of reaching the 2025 figure. 

BMW MINI also does well. It's the hatch that leads while the Aceman is also achieving some success. Mini has to sell another 140 cars to reach 2025 and the maths say that's about where will end up. 

Volvo is solid with the EX30 and the XC60 the main models. Just another 21 sales and 2025 is reached.

Porsche has the Macan and Cayenne doing the heavy lifting. They require another 58 sales to reach the 2025 total and they will. 

Data source: NZTA. 

Subaru Sales : 2018-23

In 2018, Subaru delivered 1,063,000 cars. With the 2017 total not absolute, the totals were very close to each other. 

In 2019, Toyota increased its stake in Subaru from 16.5% to 20%. That's got to be a big positive in terms of technological sharing but also adds investor confidence in Subaru.

Volume dropped 2% for the year. Early in the year, a power steering defect briefly halted production. Later, a typhoon hit some parts suppliers. For a company that has low inventory stock, it affects sales. The chance for a record year was missed.

2020 was COVID year and a 16% fall was recorded. Despite that, there was a trend in reduced sales. 

In 2021, the Semiconductor Shortage hit, but so did the policy of light stock. Any disruption hits dealers and customers are lost. In stable times, lean stock holding is financially advantageous, in disruptive times, it's problematic.  

For 2022, sales fell further to 801,800 (-7%). Just two factories and a few truly different models seems to have been a problem too. 

Whatever the reasons for the sliding sales, 2023 was much better with 912,450 deliveries (+14%). With the two plants running at capacity, things turned out much better. 

What about 2024? Click in the Label 'Brand - Asia' or go directly there by clicking here.

Data source: Subaru.

Below are deliveries by region or country in thousands from 2015 to 2023. For example,  the USA went from 582,000 to 632,000. China went from 47,000 to 8,000.

The chart below turns figures into percentages. Nearly 70% of deliveries go to the USA. China is now under 1%.