NZ Passenger Car Sales : 2026 (Jan-Apr)

Registrations for PCs were up 17% in April and 13%YTD. Toyota has had a slow start, as it often does. It is still holding 16.5% market share but that is down 28% on a full 2025. That 28% figure is exacerbated by the increase in total market sales. 

Mitsubishi is in the same boat as Toyota. The next two made hay though. Suzuki introduced the Fronx in mid 2025 and it was soon selling well, but a rear safety belt failure meant it was withdrawn from the market. This hurt the brand's sales although it is on sale again. 

BYD has raced into the top ten, with Haval there too and Chery closing in quickly on that achievement. That would be the cherry on the cake. The Haval H6 is above. Note too that the 2025 share on the chart below is for the full year.

UK Bus & Coach Registrations: 2025-26 (Q1)

It's a tough year so far for those selling buses in the UK. Registrations were down 37.7% in Q1. Apparently. the SMMT say it's due to two years of high growth and statistically that looks to be correct. 

I thought it might be larger buses suffering the most but no. Single deckers were down 15.5%, double deckers -22.1% and mini buses down a whopping 56%. Since 2021, mini buses have gone from two thirds to one third of the bus market. 

A mini bus is up to 6 tonnes and has from 9 to 17 seats. Clearly they have fallen out of favour. Single decker buses are outselling them and double deckers aren't far off from doing the same. The suddenness is surprising. 

So some of the larger falls are due to that change. It's nice to see Northern Ireland based Wrightbus doing well under trying circumstances. Alexander Dennis manufacturers locally with its electric buses using BYD batteries. 

BYD is also doing well with electric double decker buses made in China. Yutong uses a local company for final assembly of its buses, the main structure made in China. 

Data source: SMMT. Photos Wrightbus & Alexander Dennis. 

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

These sort of vehicle has plenty of takers. Land Rover are particularly sought after, the Defender taking 46% of that marque's registrations so far. 

BMW MINI also does well. It's the hatch that leads while the Aceman is also achieving some success. 

Volvo is solid with the XC60 the main model. Porsche has the Macan and Cayenne doing the heavy lifting. 

One thing all four brands here share in common is that they have increased market share so far this year. 

Data source: NZTA.