New car sales level off as New Zealand economic growth slows

New vehicle sales in New Zealand have slowed as economic growth shows signs of easing, the Motor Industry Association (MIA) said Tuesday.

New vehicles sales in the year to the end of July were up 5 percent on the same period last year to 75,928, MIA chief executive David Crawford said in a statement.

"However, in recent months overall growth has slowed with registrations of new commercial vehicles plateauing," he said.

Total new vehicle registrations for July were up 1 percent year on year to 10,366, with new passenger car registrations up 2.8 percent to 7,272 vehicles, making it the strongest month of July since 1986.

However, new commercial vehicle registrations were down 4.6 percent to 3,094 vehicles.

"The sales of new vehicles remains strong, but in line with other economic indicators further growth above current levels is uncertain," said Crawford.

"Looking ahead, while registrations of new vehicles for the 2015 year are likely to be above the record 127,179 achieved in 2014, it is unlikely to break the 130,000 barrier for the first time, which we previously anticipated might be possible."

Toyota remained the overall market leader for the month of July with 18 percent market share, followed by Ford with 10 percent and Holden with 9 percent.