WELLINGTON, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- New vehicle sales in New Zealand saw their strongest-ever start to the year in January, following record sales in 2016, the Motor Industry Association (MIA) said Friday.
Sales in January were up 10 percent year on year to hit a record 13,823, MIA chief executive officer David Crawford said in a statement.
"This is the strongest-ever start to a new sales year with record levels of new vehicles purchased by New Zealand businesses and consumers across the passenger and commercial sectors," said Crawford.
"As 2017 gets underway, nothing has changed with the economic environment that existed for most of 2016. The key drivers to high levels of new vehicle sales are the continued high levels of net immigration, low costs of debt and a strong national economy," he said.
Toyota remained the overall market leader in January with 17 percent market share, followed by Holden with 13 percent and Ford with 11 percent.
