New Zealand commercial vehicle registrations scored a record in January with 2,994 vehicles, making it the strongest January in the country's automotive history. With a total of 11,893 new vehicle registrations, including 8,899 passenger vehicles, 2016 is 226 registrations ahead of the same time in 2015, according to the Motor Industry Association (MIA) of New Zealand.

Toyota maintained it’s margin over the rest of the sector with a 19-percent market share (2,243 units), 7 percent higher than the closest rival, Ford with a 12-percent market share (1,444 units) and Holden with a 10-percent market share (1,244 units).

Compared to January 2015, registrations of passenger vehicles were down 1.2 percent in January 2016 (111 units). Toyota remains the market leader for passenger vehicles with a 20-percent market share (1,774 units), followed by Holden with 11 percent (964 units) and Mazda with a 10-percent market share (855 units). The Toyota Corolla was the top selling passenger model with 719 units registered in January (8 percent), helped by 492 rental car registrations, followed by the Toyota RAV4 with 391 units (4 percent) and Holden Commodore with 366 units (4 percent), according to the MIA data.

Ford was the commercial market leader for the month of January with a 23-percent market share (699 units), followed by Toyota with 16 percent (469 units) and Holden third with a 9-percent market share (280 units). The Ford Ranger retained its position as the monthly top selling commercial model for January with a 22-percent market share (661 units) followed by the Toyota Hilux with 10 percent (300 units) and the Holden Colorado with a 9-percent market share (266 units), according to the MIA data.

The makeup of the fleet continues to evolve with the sale of sports utility vehicles segment continuing to grow with a 33-percent market share for the month of January. This is followed by pickups/chassis-cabs with an 18-percent market share and small passenger cars on 16 percent, down 3 percent from January 2015, according to the MIA data.