NZ EV Market Share: New Cars
The new passenger car segment is evolving faster than any other New Zealand automotive market segment.
This report includes new passenger cars registered each month.
Belonging to the broader light vehicle market, this segment does not include used imports, light trucks (utes), or light vans.
See the light vehicle market share report.
EV market share snapshot
New Car Registrations
May 2023
Percentage that were EVs
Market share by fuel type
The fuel type of new cars registered in NZ in the most recent month.
New car drilldown
New passenger cars are grouped by fuel type and car brand down to individual model numbers.
Click chart to drilldown
- BEV – Battery Electric Vehicle
- PHEV – Plugin Hybrid Electric Vehicle
- The outer ring shows the market share of the entire new car market.
- Drilling into a powertrain segment shows the brand market share within that segment.
Market share by fuel type over time
New Zealand’s new car segment is undergoing a rapid transition.
The combination of the Clean Car Discount, and an increasing number of EV models with lower prices has changed the car market.
Rebates on new BEVs began on July 2021, followed by a more comprehensive scheme on April 2022. The scheme changed in July 2023 (increased fees on high-emission vehicles, slight reduction on rebate for BEVs).
EV monthly market share
The new electric car market experienced incremental growth until July 2021 (introduction of the Clean Car Discount).
The S-curve is a pattern of slow adoption followed by rapid growth and high market penetration for new technologies as they reach a critical tipping point.
The graph plots an exponential trend line and then applies an S-curve forecast that matches the trend.
Forecasting growth from a graph can be challenging due to numerous influencing factors:
- Economic recession, lowering house values, inflation.
- Government policy: how will the clean car programme change?
- EV supply constraints.
- EV pricing.
New cars are just one segment of the market
New passenger cars are showing a rapid transition to some form of electrification.
However, this is not reflected in the broader light vehicle market.
Around half of the vehicles added to the monthly register are used imports (manufactured and purchased in one country and later imported and sold into NZ as used vehicles).
Most of these used imports are petrol or hybrid vehicles (except for the Nissan Leaf EV). This reflects the Japanese Domestic Market, NZ’s primary used vehicle source market.
Another significant segment is the light commercial class of vehicles.
In this segment, over 75% of vehicles are utes (light trucks), most of which are diesel. The market share of these combustion vehicles has remained unchanged, despite a pollution fee).
