October was the fourth month of growth, but distributors’ organisation remains wary.

OCTOBER presenting as a fourth consecutive month of slight growth in new light vehicle registrations is heartening to the main industry body, but latest results suggest a stabilising market rather than a rebound.

Economic conditions remain tight and overall sentiment is cautious, the Motor Industry Association says when sharing data for October.

The representative body for most new vehicle distributors here says easing finance costs, resilient rural demand, and sustained growth in hybrid and plug-in hybrid sales suggest the new-vehicle sector is gradually regaining balance after an extended period of softness.

However, as much as the past four months have shown pleasing and sustained improvement, in overall terms the "economy remains subdued and the market fragile,” said association chief executive Aimee Wiley.

“Conditions are still tight, with households under pressure and confidence only beginning to recover. The modest lift in registrations signals stabilisation rather than expansion - a gradual firming as the market starts to find its feet.”

New vehicle registrations last month totalled 14,240 units, up 13.5 percent on October 2024, which was a tough month in a tough year.

Wiley says it’s a story of cautious resilience in the face of continued economic headwinds and steady but fragile progress, with infometrics data showing the national economy remains subdued, even if the pace of decline is easing.

“GDP (gross domestic product) fell 0.8 percent in the year to June 2025, consumer spending dropped 1.7 percent, and employment declined 1.5 percent, pushing unemployment to five percent,” the MIA’s boss has noted.

“The Reserve Bank’s October cut to 2.5 percent has provided some relief, but conditions remain uneven across sectors.

“Stronger primary export returns continue to offset weakness in construction, manufacturing and urban consumption.”

Passenger vehicles again led the market, with 10,712 registrations, up 12.9 percent on the same period of 2024. Hybrid models remained dominant and the Toyota RAV4, now likely into runout with a new lineup announced for introduction in 2026, maintaining standing as the top-selling model with 1636 registrations. The next best performers were the Mitsubishi Outlander on 590 then another Toyota, the Yaris Cross, on 552.

Light commercial vehicles totalled 2918 registrations, down slightly from 3078 in September, but 22.8 percent higher than October 2024. Ford Ranger once again led the segment with 836 sales,ahead of the Toyota Hilux on 759 then the Mitsubishi Triton on 244.

In the light passenger low-emission segment, battery electric vehicles (BEVs) fell to 507 registrations, down from 608 in September and 648 a year earlier. Conversely, plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) rose to 503 units, up from 389 last month and 345 in October 2024.

Hybrid-electric achieved 4669 registrations, up from 3922 in September and 3347 for the same month of 2024.