NZ Pick Up Truck Sales By Model : 2013-15

Suitable for the outdoors lifestyle in New Zealand. The Ford
 Ranger has taken top spot in the NZ  market with surprising ease 

The pick up truck is called a ute (utility) down under and is getting more popular. Most that sell in NZ seem to be the double cab versions that are quite car like. The rear tray has been compromised to allow so much passenger room. They are big vehicles but that isn't an issue here.

Total ute sales keep rising faster than the market as a whole and now account for nearly 28,000 sales out of 134,000 vehicles, including heavy commercial. The Toyota Hilux has been the top selling ute for decades and still was in 2013, just. The Ford Ranger then pushed the Hilux aside in 2014 and increased its lead the following year. It now has just under a quarter of all sales and I get the impression TNZ gasped at the ease and speed in which it happened.

The Holden Colorado is now ahead of the Nissan Navarra while the Mitsubishi Triton and Isuzu D-Max had strong increases of 52 and 38% respectively. The VW Amarok and Ssangyong Actyon Sport have struggled in the intense competition. Chinese brand Foton have done rather well but Great Wall have dropped off my radar.

The dark blue is USA, salmon Japan, light blue Europe and yellow other Asia. The colours show where the brand is associated but not where it is made.

13	14	15	Model	2013	%	2014	%	+/-	2015	%	+/-
2	1	1	Ford Ranger	4,928	23.2	6,342	24.9	29%	6,832	24.6	8%
1	2	2	Toyota Hilux	5,046	23.8	5,778	22.7	15%	5,632	20.3	-3%
4	3	3	GM Colorado	2,462	11.6	2,955	11.6	20%	3,594	12.9	22%
3	4	4	Nissan Navara	2,695	12.7	2,522	9.9	-6%	3,147	11.3	25%
5	5	5	Mitsubishi Triton	1,282	6.0	1,599	6.3	25%	2,432	8.7	52%
7	7	6	Isuzu D-Max	816	3.8	1,232	4.8	51%	1,699	6.1	38%
6	6	7	Mazda BT-50	1,279	6.0	1,462	5.7	14%	1,382	5.0	-5%
8	9	8	VW Amarok	799	3.8	779	3.1	-3%	826	3.0	6%
9	8	9	Ssang Ac Sport	448	2.1	894	3.5	100%	687	2.5	-23%
?	10	10	Foton Tunland	?		416	1.6		467	1.7	12%
			Other	1,481	7.0	1,456	5.7	-2%	1,113	4.0	-24%
			Total	21,236		25,435		20%	27,811		9%

Data source: NZ Autofile.

UK Top 20 Models : 2010-14

GMV have high hopes for the new Astra, shown here the Sports Tourer variant

The Ford Fiesta became the clear favourite of the UK public by 2014. However, a trend of a diversified car buying was well established. The Top 10 were now just 26.6% of all sales, a record low. The USA had seven of the best ten sellers as recently as 2008, but now had four. Four of the top five mind you. Germany now had three in the Top 10 and another four in the next ten.

The last time a Japanese brand made the Top 10 was in 1983, a Datsun Sunny. Now the Qashqai was at a record high 6th for the brand, two had made it. Admittedly both are designed and built in Europe, so have European appeal but still quite a feat. Nissan is the only Japanese brand ever to reach the Top 10.

		Model	2014	2013	2012	2011	2010
	1	Ford Fiesta	131,254	121,929	109,265	96,112	103,013
	2	Ford Focus	85,140	87,350	83,115	81,832	77,804
	3	Vauxhall Corsa	81,783	84,275	89,434	77,751	77,398
	4	VW Golf	73,880	64,951	62,021	63,368	58,116
	5	Vauxhall Astra	59,689	68,070	63,023	62,575	80,646
	6	Nissan Qashqai	49,909	50,211	45,675	39,406	39,048
	7	VW Polo	48,004	42,609	41,901	45,992	45,517
	8	Audi A3	45,581	32,030	29,428	27,122	33,395
	9	Fiat 500	44,005	37,918	34,161	25,607	26,920
	10	Nissan Juke	39,263	37,488	28,862	21,900
	11	BMW 3 Series	38,649	43,494	44,521	42,471	42,020
	12	Vauxhall Mokka	32,918
	13	BMW 1 Series	31,848	41,883	34,488	28,664	31,996
	14	Mercedes C	31,525	30,991	37,261	30,039
	15	Vauxhall Insignia	31,313	28,383	32,610	46,324	37,281
	16	Peugeot 207/208	31,215	38,616		31,793	42,185
	17	Toyota Yaris	31,160	31,153	29,961
	18	Vauxhall Zafira Tour	31,092	27,202	21,716		30,360
	19	BMW MINI	30,000	29,781	36,839	35,845	41,883
	20	Mercedes E	28,707	28,833	23,594	24,526
		Audi A1		24,088
		Hyundai i10			23,135		23,565
		Honda Jazz			22,192		24,210
		VW Passat				22,565
		Renault Clio				23,156	34,243
		Audi A4				21,042
		Ford Mondeo					30,115
		Renault Mégane					26,114
		Top 10	658,508	643,388	613,055	591,676	607,630
		% of Total	26.6	28.4	30.0	30.5	30.0
		Total	2,476,435	2,264,737	2,044,609	1,941,253	2,030,846

Data source: SMMT.

Summary: In the series, massive changes have taken place. From a country with strong sales of local brands, to one where German brands abound. US makes have had a constant presence, especially Ford. On a personal level it would be nice to see the UK public take the 'local' Qashqai to another level, but it isn't easy to get into the top few selling models. I cannot see anyone knocking Ford off the top rung anytime soon.

Other years in the series:
65-69, 70-74, 75-79, 80-84, 85-89, 90-94, 95-99, 00-04, 05-09.

The Vauxhall Mokka came in at 12th for an impressive start