New Zealand's vehicle imports continue to fall

WELLINGTON, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- Imports of vehicles, parts, and accessories to New Zealand decreased, for the 11th consecutive time year-on-year, by 2.95 billion NZ dollars to 8.9 billion NZ dollars in the year ended October 2024, the statistics department Stats NZ said on Monday.

The total value of passenger motor vehicles imported in the 12 months through October 2024 was 5.4 billion NZ dollars, down 25 percent year-on-year, which was led by the import fall of electric vehicles, petrol cars between 1.5-3 liters, and petrol and diesel cars under 1.5 liters, Stats NZ international accounts spokesperson Viki Ward said.

The only import category to rise was diesel cars between 1.5-2.5 liters, she added.

"Hybrid electric vehicles were the top imported passenger car in the year to October 2024," she said.

By country of origin, Japan, which has been New Zealand's largest source of car imports, led the fall in imports of passenger motor vehicles, followed by the European Union and China, she said. (1 NZ dollar equals 0.59 U.S. dollar) ■