The BYD Atto 3 & MG ZS EV Take Top Two Positions In New Zealand’s May EV Sales Table

13,354 vehicles were registered in May in New Zealand. Of these, 1,219 were brand new battery electric vehicles (BEVs). That means about 9% of them were fully electric. In total, 1,526 BEVs were registered in May in New Zealand, including used vehicle imports. In New Zealand, used vehicle imports are allowed, and usually on the BEV side, these are dominated by used Nissan LEAFs from places like Japan. In May, 290 used Nissan LEAFs were registered in New Zealand, which is almost 20 times more than the brand new Nissan LEAFs registered in that period, as only 15 new LEAFs were registered.

According to data shared recently by EVDB New Zealand, the top selling BEV in May was the BYD Atto 3 with 223 units, followed by SAIC’s MG ZS EV with 204 units. The Hyundai Ioniq 5 was in third place with 120 units, followed by the Tesla Model 3 in fourth, and the Tesla Model Y rounded out the top 5 with 77 units.

May BEV Sales in New Zealand

Looking at the last 3 months, the BYD Atto 3 tops the list again with 1,024 units, followed closely by the Tesla Model Y with 965 units and the MG ZS EV in third with 623 units. Kia’s EV6 is in fourth with 326 units and the Tesla Model 3 rounds off the top 5 with 285 units.

Used Nissan LEAF registrations would actually be in third place if we combine new vehicles sales with used ones. 892 used Nissan LEAFs were registered in New Zealand in the last 3 months.

It’s great to see that registrations of new BEVs in New Zealand were close to 10% last month. We are starting to see these growing market shares of BEVs in more countries around the world outside the usual suspects like Norway and China. Recently, we saw that 12.5% of cars sold in Singapore in Q1 were battery-electric vehicles. The Israeli market is also starting to make some considerable progress, as illustrated by BEVs accounting for 16.6% of all cars sold so far this year. In Israel, New Zealand, and Singapore, BYD is now consistently showing up in the leadership positions on the sales charts. BYD is accelerating its export drive and opening up in multiple markets around the world, and is also adding more models to its export lineup. The BYD Dolphin is one to look out for as it gets added to more markets around the world. The one I am really excited about is the smaller BYD Seagull, and I hope the Seagull gets added to the export roster ASAP.

Small hatchbacks dominate vehicle sales in many countries, as they are more affordable for a lot of consumers. Small electric hatchbacks like the BYD Seagull have potential to help accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles.