Newcomer from Jaecoo tops Kiwi sales charts for April.
EV market down compared to May, but double the same month last year.
Zeekr and Tesla BEVs also top performers.
Jaecoo’s new J5 compact-SUV has sparked lots of interest among Kiwi buyers: it was the top-selling battery electric vehicle (BEV, or pure-electric) in New Zealand last month, with 89 registrations. With sales kicking off in May, it’s also now in the top-10 BEVs year-to-date (just).
Range Rover you say? Nah, we can’t see it.
Looking a bit like a Range Range Sport viewed from very, very far away (Jaecoo’s parent brand Chery has tie-ups with Jaguar Land Rover, so we guess that’s okay), the J5 is a budget baby-SUV that sells in a single specification for just $42,990.
It has 59kWh battery and claimed range of 402km. The single electric motor drives the front wheels and makes 155kW/288Nm. According to Jaecoo, one of the model’s main features is “pet friendly” seats made of special silicone-based material, which is antibacterial and wear resistant.
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Luxury Zeekr 7X sold up a (relative) storm in April.
As previously reported, NZ’s BEV market share in April was down from May’s 16.2% but still a healthy 11.1% (more than double April 2025).
The other top BEV performers in April were the Zeekr 7X (83), Tesla Model Y (72), Kia EV3 (71) and Dongfeng Box (65).
Tesla Model Y is always in there: third in April and still top for the year.
BYD had three models in the top 10 for the month (Atto 1, Sealion 7 and Atto 2) and remained NZ’s top BEV brand for April (152). It also remains the top BEV brand year-to-date with 940 registrations, leading Tesla (680) and Dongfeng (499).
NZ TOP-SELLING BEVS YEAR-TO-DATE
Tesla Model Y (585)
Dongfeng Box (348)
BYD Atto 1 (307)
BYD Atto 2 (253)
MG ZS EV (240)
Zeekr 7X (222)
BYD Sealion 7 (207)
Kia EV3 (171)
BYD Atto 3 (154)
Jaecoo J5 (124)
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