Vehicle Age

Vehicle age on arrival into the NZ fleet

About

This page explores the age distribution of used import vehicles at the time they are registered in New Zealand. It includes historical data (5 years previous) up to the most recent month.

Average age at import

9.8 years

0.0 yearsvs 12mo ago

Over 10 years old

50.5%

Share of monthly imports

Near new share

8.9%

Share of monthly imports

Age profile of imported used vehicles

Analysis

The majority of used vehicles imported into New Zealand are between 8 to 13 years old. While age dropped in 2022-23, it has been on a gradual upward trend over the past few years.

What happened in March 2022? The three outliers in the chart correlate to Clean Car Discount phases. From 1 April 2022, the full feebate scheme was implemented. In June 2023, rebate criteria were adjusted, before the scheme ended in December 2023.

Age bands of the most commonly imported models

Import Age by Model

Each cell shows the share of that model's imports in each age band.

Lower share

Higher share

Explainer

The chart shows how used import models are represented across age bands.

It shows the top 20 models by volume, for the selected period.

Each row shows how that model's registrations are split across age groups at the time of NZ registration.

Why the 16+ age band?

Volume drops sharply at age 15. Older imports are rare - mostly classics and vintage vehicles. Grouping them into a single band keeps the chart focused without losing that small tail entirely.