The Dongfeng Box has a great start in New Zealand.

New light vehicle sales in New Zealand soar 25.1% year-on-year in March to 14,910 units, leading to a Q1 volume up 12.5% to 36,910. In the detail, passenger cars gain 19.4% to 10,063 sales while light commercials shoot up 38.9% to 4,847. Toyota (+8.6%) can’t match the flying market and holds 18.7% share vs. 18% so far this year. Ford (+31.3%) manages an excellent score at #2 unlike Mitsubishi (-14.1%) at #3. BYD (+221.9%) is up 3-fold year-on-year to #4 and 5.8% share, that’s a new ranking record eclipsing its previous best of #5 reached in December 2023 and June 2025. Tesla is up 271% to #8 and Dongfeng ranks #14 with 2.3% share.

Over in the models charts, the Toyota Hilux (+76.7%) gets a big new generation boost and claims the top spot for the first time since last July. The Ford Ranger (+46.1%) is relegated to 2nd place but holds onto the #1 ranking YTD. The Tesla Model Y surges to third place with 3.2% share, its best ranking since topping the charts outright in September 2023. The Mitsubishi Triton (-15.2%) and Nissan Navara (+6.5%) ensure there are four pickup trucks inside the March Top 5. The Toyota Hiace (+115.3%), Hyundai Tucson (#7), Toyota Corolla Cross (+65.9%) and MG ZS (+50.8%) also shine below. Finally the Dongfeng Box makes a splash at #12 and 1.7% for its first full month of sales.

Previous month: New Zealand February 2026: Hyundai Tucson and Nissan Navara impress

One year ago: New Zealand March 2025: Ford Ranger claws back on top, BYD Shark 6 at #13

Full March 2026 Top 25 brands and Top 25 models below.

New Zealand March 2026 – brands:

Pos	Brand	Mar-26	%	/25	Feb	2026	%	/25	Pos	FY25
1	Toyota	2,792	18.7%	+ 8.6%	1	6,660	18.0%	– 9.1%	1	1
2	Ford	1,451	9.7%	+ 31.3%	2	3,954	10.7%	+ 31.2%	2	2
3	Mitsubishi	1,125	7.5%	– 14.1%	3	3,334	9.0%	+ 1.8%	3	3
4	BYD	866	5.8%	+ 221.9%	8	1,701	4.6%	+ 85.3%	6	10
5	Kia	719	4.8%	– 15.5%	4	2,452	6.6%	+ 2.9%	4	4
6	Nissan	697	4.7%	+ 3.7%	5	1,820	4.9%	+ 21.9%	5	7
7	MG	538	3.6%	+ 33.2%	7	1,391	3.8%	+ 20.5%	7	9
8	Tesla	538	3.6%	+ 271.0%	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	18
9	Suzuki	505	3.4%	+ 24.1%	10	1,190	3.2%	– 10.0%	9	5
10	Hyundai	482	3.2%	+ 57.0%	6	1,296	3.5%	+ 65.9%	8	8
11	GWM	421	2.8%	+ 43.2%	12	1,082	2.9%	+ 20.0%	11	11
12	Mazda	420	2.8%	– 2.8%	9	1,174	3.2%	+ 7.8%	10	6
13	Honda	411	2.8%	– 25.9%	11	923	2.5%	– 22.2%	12	12
14	Dongfeng	336	2.3%	new	n/a	n/a	n/a	new	n/a	56
15	Chery	261	1.8%	new	13	668	1.8%	new	13	23
16	Isuzu	194	1.3%	+ 34.7%	15	527	1.4%	+ 7.6%	15	16
17	BMW	181	1.2%	– 13.4%	18	498	1.3%	– 6.9%	18	17
18	Land Rover	180	1.2%	+ 50.0%	24	0	0.0%	– 100.0%	n/a	22
19	Jaecoo	178	1.2%	+ 165.7%	n/a	0	0.0%	– 100.0%	n/a	24
20	Lexus	175	1.2%	+ 10.1%	19	426	1.2%	+ 5.2%	20	19
21	Mercedes	174	1.2%	+ 1.8%	16	504	1.4%	– 8.9%	17	15
22	Subaru	168	1.1%	– 20.0%	14	518	1.4%	– 14.2%	16	14
23	Volkswagen	152	1.0%	– 21.2%	17	494	1.3%	– 24.3%	19	13
24	LDV	147	1.0%	+ 32.4%	n/a	265	0.7%	– 9.9%	n/a	20
25	Audi	134	0.9%	+ 1.5%	23	326	0.9%	+ 17.7%	n/a	21

New Zealand March 2026 – models:

Pos	Model	Mar-26	%	/25	Feb	2026	%	/25	Pos	FY25
1	Toyota Hilux	1,182	7.9%	+ 76.7%	6	1,696	4.6%	– 10.0%	2	3
2	Ford Ranger	1,036	6.9%	+ 46.1%	1	2,485	6.7%	+ 39.1%	1	2
3	Tesla Model Y	480	3.2%	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	22
4	Mitsubishi Triton	414	2.8%	– 15.2%	9	907	2.5%	– 9.8%	6	7
5	Nissan Navara	408	2.7%	+ 6.5%	3	1,224	3.3%	+ 70.9%	4	9
6	Toyota Hiace	338	2.3%	+ 115.3%	8	853	2.3%	+ 102.6%	8	10
7	Hyundai Tucson	304	2.0%	n/a	2	877	2.4%	n/a	7	15
8	Toyota RAV4	295	2.0%	– 58.2%	4	1,305	3.5%	– 46.6%	3	1
9	MG ZS	279	1.9%	+ 50.8%	10	727	2.0%	+ 33.6%	12	12
10	Toyota Corolla Cross	277	1.9%	+ 65.9%	13	762	2.1%	+ 76.4%	11	20
11	Mitsubishi ASX	270	1.8%	– 25.8%	5	1,070	2.9%	+ 14.7%	5	4
12	Dongfeng Box	260	1.7%	new	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	–
13	Nissan X-Trail	254	1.7%	+ 86.8%	16	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	23
14	Mitsubishi Outlander	251	1.7%	– 28.7%	12	819	2.2%	– 17.5%	9	5
15	Kia Sportage	249	1.7%	n/a	14	565	1.5%	n/a	14	21
16	GWM Haval H6	232	1.6%	+ 82.7%	20	558	1.5%	+ 54.6%	15	17
17	BYD Shark 6	220	1.5%	+ 30.2%	26	403	1.1%	– 25.2%	n/a	14
18	Ford Everest	195	1.3%	+ 18.2%	7	766	2.1%	+ 55.1%	10	6
19	Kia Seltos	187	1.3%	– 36.6%	11	662	1.8%	– 29.6%	13	8
20	Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross	168	1.1%	n/a	24	417	1.1%	n/a	20	n/a
21	Toyota Corolla	159	1.1%	– 27.4%	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	13
22	Suzuki Swift	156	1.0%	– 17.0%	17	479	1.3%	– 22.0%	18	16
23	Suzuki Fronx	144	1.0%	new	n/a	n/a	n/a	new	n/a	n/a
24	Jaecoo J7	143	1.0%	new	n/a	n/a	n/a	new	n/a	n/a
25	Toyota Yaris Cross	140	0.9%	n/a	18	556	1.5%	n/a	16	11
26	Mazda CX-5	135	0.9%	– 23.3%	23	416	1.1%	– 3.5%	21	19

Source: MIA

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