The 2026 New Zealand Car Market Just Hit a BREAKING POINT - And It's Getting Ugly!

Which car brands are losing ground in the New Zealand new car market in 2026, even though the market is growing? From January to September 2026, 108,132 new light vehicles were registered in New Zealand, up 12 per cent on the same nine months of 2025 (96,507). We ranked every brand that registered at least 150 new vehicles in January to September 2025 and has fallen by more than 10 per cent this year. There are exactly 13. For each brand you get the registrations this year against last year, the percentage change, the models behind the fall, and what changed: a new model at a higher price, a distributor leaving, or a vehicle that stopped arriving. The list covers Subaru, Mercedes-Benz, Skoda, Volkswagen, Nissan, RAM, LDV, Peugeot, Renault, Jeep, KGM, Polestar and Jaguar. Nissan lost the most vehicles (1,118), and Jaguar registered 21 new vehicles in nine months, none since March. Also in the video: the Inchcape distributor that appears three times, rental companies registering 10,751 new passenger vehicles in nine months, electric and plug-in hybrid cars at 28.7 per cent of passenger registrations in September 2026, and BYD, Tesla and Chery growing while these 13 brands fall. These are NZTA register figures counted by the Motor Trade Association, not sales to customers: rental fleets and dealer demonstrators are included, and the data runs to September 2026 (October figures are published in early November). Prices are the prices reported on the dates in the sources below and can change. Which of these 13 brands do you think won't be selling new cars in New Zealand in five years' time? Tell us in the comments, and subscribe to NZ Vehicles for the real registration numbers, not the brochure. 0:00 The market is up 12 per cent, so why are brands falling? 1:04 How the list is built: NZTA register, Motor Trade Association 1:22 13. Subaru 2:29 12. Mercedes-Benz 3:28 11. Skoda 4:09 10. Volkswagen 5:24 9. Nissan 7:19 8. RAM 7:53 7. LDV 8:51 6. Peugeot 10:05 5. Renault 10:41 4. Jeep 11:35 3. KGM 12:12 2. Polestar 12:59 1. Jaguar 14:09 Rental fleets, electric cars and Chinese brands 15:27 Your turn: which brands will be gone in five years? Sources (read 18 to 20 Oct 2026 unless stated): Motor Trade Association vstat, new light vehicle registrations by brand and model, NZTA register, vstat.mta.org.nz/brand (updated 1 Oct 2026) - GoAuto, New Zealand September 2026 sales (Motor Industry Association), 5 Oct 2026, goauto.com.au/news/nz-sales/nz-sales-2026/nz-sales-september-surge-lifts-market-22pc/2026-10-05/100631.html - Driven, September 2026 new vehicle sales, 6 Oct 2026, drivencarguide.co.nz/news/new-zealand-new-vehicle-sales-september-every-second-private-registration-was-an-electric-car/ - Motoring NZ, Richard Bosselman, Subaru Outback pricing, 25 Feb 2026 - Driven, Damien O'Carroll, Nissan Qashqai MY26 pricing, 30 Jan 2026, drivencarguide.co.nz/news/nissan-announces-my26-qashqai-pricing-and-specs-for-new-zealand/ - Motoring NZ, Qashqai runout, 5 Feb 2026, motoringnz.com/news/2026/2/5/spendthrift-push-more-spend-for-qashqai - CarExpert NZ, Navara pricing, 5 Mar 2026 - Driven, Damien O'Carroll, Nissan warranty, 1 Apr 2026 - Driven, David Linklater, Volkswagen Tiguan launch pricing, 11 Jul 2024 - AutoTrader NZ, Kyle Cassidy, ID. Tiguan, 15 Oct 2026 - Driven, Inchcape drops LDV, 23 Jul 2026, drivencarguide.co.nz/news/following-kgm-inchcape-drops-ldv-in-new-zealand/ - Motoring NZ, LDV and Inchcape, 23 Jul 2026, motoringnz.com/news/2026/7/23/ldv-and-distributor-inchcape-to-part-ways - CarExpert NZ, LDV T60 runout, 18 Aug 2026 - Motoring NZ, Peugeot's NZ distributor, 3 Jul 2026, motoringnz.com/news/2026/7/3/peugeots-nz-distributor-standing-firm - CarExpert NZ, Matthew Hansen, Opel, 27 Feb 2026 - Trade Me listing 5294134480 (Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited), Trade Me API, 30 Sep 2026 - CarExpert NZ, Inchcape and KGM, 2 Jul 2026, carexpert.co.nz/car-news/kgm-dumped-by-distributor-inchcape-drop-south-korean-brand-after-three-years-in-nz - Motoring NZ, KGM continuing in NZ, 2 Jul 2026, motoringnz.com/news/2026/7/2/kgm-intent-on-continuing-in-nz - AutoTrader NZ, Polestar 2 pricing, 13 Jan 2025 - AutoTrader NZ, Andrew Sluys, Polestar 4, 3 Sep 2026 - Driven, Damien O'Carroll, Jaguar runout, 31 Jan 2025 - Driven, Nile Bijoux, Jaguar Type 01, 8 Oct 2026 #NZCars #NewCarsNZ #NZCarMarket #CarSalesNZ #NZVehicles