{"id":406609,"date":"2026-05-01T11:21:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T11:21:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/406609\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T11:21:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T11:21:11","slug":"the-insider-new-zealand-has-reached-the-tipping-point-for-electrified-cars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/406609\/","title":{"rendered":"The Insider: New Zealand has reached the tipping point for electrified cars"},"content":{"rendered":"

NordEast group general manager Dane Fisher argues New Zealand has reached a tipping point for vehicle electrification.<\/p>\n

\"Geely<\/p>\n

First Geely-branded car to be launched in NZ was the EX5 SUV.<\/p>\n

To readers of DRIVEN Car Guide: the automotive industry is in the middle of its most profound reset in more than a century. Powertrains are changing, supply chains are shifting, new brands are emerging at speed – and the rules that once governed how we bought, sold and owned cars are being rewritten in real time.<\/p>\n

Electrification sits right at the centre of this change. It brings enormous opportunity, but also real uncertainty. For customers, dealers and distributors alike, the questions are no longer theoretical – they\u2019re practical, commercial and immediate.<\/p>\n


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Over the coming issues, I\u2019ll be sharing a view from inside New Zealand\u2019s automotive transition: what\u2019s changing beneath the headlines, what\u2019s gaining momentum, and what it means for Kiwi drivers and businesses.<\/p>\n

\"Zeekr
\nZeekr 9X SUV (not currently sold in NZ) see the brand climbing up the luxury scale.<\/p>\n

My own journey with cars began at 17, when I was offered my first job as a groomer by the late Sir Colin Giltrap. That opportunity sparked a career spanning multiple countries and some of the world\u2019s most recognisable automotive brands. Today, I lead the team at NordEast Vehicle Distributors\u2014a new division of the Giltrap Group, built on more than 60 years of automotive heritage in NZ.<\/p>\n

NordEast was created with a clear purpose: to bring together a portfolio of Geely Group brands and use that scale to make electrification more practical, more accessible, and more appealing for Kiwi drivers and businesses.<\/p>\n

\"Volvo
\nVolvo is something of a heritage-hero brand for NordEast.<\/p>\n

We represent six brands: Volvo, Polestar and Lotus, alongside three newer names, Geely, Zeekr and Farizon. That \u201csix brands, one distributor\u201d model is unique globally, and it\u2019s deliberate. It allows us to move faster, invest smarter, and give customers real choice across price points, body styles and technologies \u2014 without forcing everyone into a single definition of what electrification should be.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve seen encouraging early traction, particularly in the premium segment, and newer brands are finding their feet faster than many expected. But for me, the more interesting question isn\u2019t what\u2019s happened already – it\u2019s what\u2019s happening right now.<\/p>\n


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\n Advertise with NZME.<\/a> \n <\/p>\n

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\"Riddara
\nRiddara RD6 Pro ute is pure-electric.<\/p>\n

Recent fuel supply restrictions have been a timely reminder of how volatile, and how fragile, the global oil market can be. At the same time, March delivered a standout moment for electrified vehicles in NZ.<\/p>\n

The overall market was up almost 20% year-on-year. Battery electric vehicle sales were up 271%, and plug\u2011in hybrids rose 211%. BEVs reached a 16.6% market share, PHEVs 10.2%, delivering a combined 27% New Energy Vehicle (NEV) share \u2014 the highest since December 2023.<\/p>\n

At NordEast, our own results were up 170% on the same month last year, with 313 vehicles delivered, of which 287 were electrified at a 92% electrified penetration rate.<\/p>\n

Naturally, the question I\u2019m asked most is whether this is a short\u2011term sugar rush \u2014 or something more lasting.<\/p>\n

My honest view is this: some of the spike will normalise, especially as brands scramble to restock, but the underlying direction is real.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve seen this pattern before. Late-2023 showed just how sensitive the market is to policy and pricing. As the Clean Car Discount came to an end, electrified registrations surged, including a month where battery EVs made up nearly 40 per cent of new vehicle registrations. When the scheme ended on 31 December, the market corrected sharply. By January 2024, EV share had fallen to around three per cent.<\/p>\n

On the surface, that looked like hesitation. I see it differently.<\/p>\n

This is a market in transition \u2014 highly sensitive to total cost of ownership, confidence, and practical barriers. And those barriers are shifting.<\/p>\n

Our monthly research backs this up. In February, before the fuel disruption, Kiwi intent to buy an electric vehicle was at its highest in years, while concerns around range, cost and charging were at their lowest.<\/p>\n

NZ still lags behind more mature electrified markets. In 2025, electrified vehicles made up around 11% of our total market. Australia sat closer to 18%, the UK around 35%, and the global average at roughly 25%.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s changed over the past 18-24 months is the fundamentals. There is broader model choice. Real\u2011world range has improved. Charging infrastructure is stronger. And pricing is moving closer to parity with petrol and diesel alternatives. When those fundamentals line up, latent interest turns into real demand.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve moved beyond the debate stage. Electrification is no longer a theory, a policy experiment, or a niche option. It\u2019s becoming the default \u2014 not because people are told to buy it, but because it increasingly makes sense.<\/p>\n

When choice expands and barriers fall, behaviour follows. What we\u2019re seeing now isn\u2019t a blip. It\u2019s the market waking back up. And this time, it feels different.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NordEast group general manager Dane Fisher argues New Zealand has reached a tipping point for vehicle electrification. First…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":406610,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[6190,138,18930,199334,28091,2454,23736,111,43,139,69,25367,17620,153173,32791,33354],"class_list":["post-406609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-bev","tag-business","tag-ev","tag-farizon","tag-geely","tag-industry","tag-lotus","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-phev","tag-suv","tag-the-insider","tag-volvo","tag-zeekr"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=406609"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406609\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/406610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=406609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=406609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=406609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}