Commercial registrations and activity
Commercial vehicles steady after recovery
10 Feb 2022
Our take on the latest Commercial registrations and activity (Thu 10 Feb 2022)
New light commercials up 8.4%pa in January
New medium commercials down 6.7%pa
New very heavy commercials up 38%pa
The key numbers...
- There were 4,333 new commercial vehicle registrations in January, 8.7% more than January last year.
- New light commercials grew 8.4%pa, new medium commercials fell 6.7%pa, and very heavy commercials grew 38%pa.
- Total Road User Charges edged up 0.4%pa, driven by more light RUCs (up 0.7%), while total heavy RUCs edged down slightly (-1.4%).
Total heavy commercial registrations
Annual running total, source: NZTA
...and our reaction
- January saw modest growth in commercial vehicles. The recovery phase after the onset of the pandemic in 2020 appears to be over.
- Total heavy commercials (medium plus very heavy comms) are now sitting at pre-pandemic levels. The gains in annual registrations made since the end of 2020 (ranging between 17% for very heavy trucks up to 43% for medium commercials) are a testament to the strength of the economy.
- Import growth remained solid in January, at 37%pa, although this growth rate was about half of December’s very strong figure. We note that Omicron has the potential to disrupt supply chains further in the coming months.
- Light commercial registrations have been strong in the lead-up to the introduction of the fee for higher-emissions vehicles on April 1. Registrations should continue to grow in February and March as long as imports hold up.
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