2 November 2026
Electric Vehicles Ride Fuel Price Wave
Registrations of electrified vehicles rose sharply in October compared to a year ago, as buyers responded to ongoing higher prices at the pump, MTA says.
Plug-in hybrids and battery electric vehicles together reached 3317 registrations, up 174.1% on October 2025, and made up 22.7% of new light vehicles, against 8.9% a year ago.
MTA Sector Manager – Dealers & Specialist Services Larry Fallowfield says what’s interesting is who’s driving them out of the showroom.
“Almost 60% of Battery Electrified Vehicles (BEVs) in October were registered to private owners,” Mr Fallowfield says.
“Some of that is registrations catching up with sales in March when the Iran conflict started and there was a bit of panic and not enough stock to meet demand.
“But there’s growing reports and belief that higher fuel prices aren’t just a spike, they’ll be around for a while yet, and that’s clearly influencing buyer behaviour.”
Adding weight to that argument is that while sales of electrified vehicles rose, diesel registrations fell by 27.8%.
Full details of the month’s sales and how they compare to previous months can be found on MTA’s open-access website, vstat.mta.co.nz.
Overall, total light vehicle registrations rose 11.5% on October 2025 to 23,289, the second highest monthly total of 2026 behind September.
As with September, rental and company buyers drove the increase, taking a 71.1% share. Rental registrations rose 11.7% to 4,921 compared to October last year, , a 33.6% share of the new market.
Toyota bosses will be letting off the fireworks early, with the Rav4 and the Corolla Cross taking out the two top-selling car slots, and Toyota utes and vans pipping Ford in the light commercial vehicles category.
Chinese brands once again continue their skyrocket-rise: 22.7% of new light vehicles in October, up from 11.5% a year ago and 5.4% in January 2024.
“There’s no doubt there’s a new powerhouse in town,” says Mr Fallowfield.
“Japanese, Korean and US brands are all down on their market share a year ago, and they’re all losing ground to one player: China.”
“The BYD Shark is a classic example. It’s taken a huge bite out of the commercial market and is now the fourth-biggest selling commercial vehicle.”
