{"id":597309,"date":"2026-09-11T17:24:17","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T17:24:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/597309\/"},"modified":"2026-09-11T17:24:17","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T17:24:17","slug":"sluggish-demand-for-used-cars-puts-brakes-on-chinese-automakers-growth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/597309\/","title":{"rendered":"Sluggish demand for used cars puts brakes on Chinese automakers\u2019 growth"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chinese automakers are rapidly gaining ground in New Zealand’s car market, particularly new electric vehicles.<\/p>\n

However, their next challenge may be persuading New Zealanders to buy second-hand electric vehicles, as concerns about battery life and resale value continue to weigh on demand for used EVs.<\/p>\n

Trade Me’s 2026 Cars Consumer Insights Report found that 33 percent of new-car buyers in New Zealand were considering a Chinese brand, ahead of European models at 28 percent and US vehicles at 15 percent.<\/p>\n

Japanese brands remained dominant, with 75 percent of new-car buyers considering one, according to the report, followed by South Korean models at 49 percent.<\/p>\n

Chinese brands, however, still have a significant gap to close in the used-car market.<\/p>\n

Only 12 percent of used-car buyers said they were considering a Chinese brand, compared with 76 percent who said they were considering a Japanese vehicle.<\/p>\n

The findings come as Chinese brands continue to expand their share of New Zealand’s new-vehicle market.<\/p>\n

RNZ has previously reported<\/a> that Chinese-made electric vehicles are reshaping New Zealand’s car market, accounting for 73 percent of the country’s fully electric vehicle imports.<\/p>\n

August sales data from the Motor Trade Association also showed continued growth for Chinese brands, which accounted for 18.7 percent of new-vehicle registrations that month, nearly three times their share in 2024.<\/p>\n

China is now the second-largest source of new-vehicle registrations by brand origin, behind Japan.<\/p>\n

\"Larry<\/p>\n

Larry Fallowfield, sector manager for dealers and specialist services at the Motor Trade Association<\/p>\n

Supplied<\/p>\n

Larry Fallowfield, sector manager for dealers and specialist services at the Motor Trade Association, said the second-hand market had long played an important role in vehicle buying in New Zealand.<\/p>\n

Around 70,000 used vehicles changed hands each month, excluding newly registered vehicles, he said, with dealers accounting for about 30 percent of those transactions.<\/p>\n

One reason Chinese brands still had significant ground to make up, Fallowfield said, was that relatively few had been on New Zealand roads long enough to generate a substantial supply of second-hand vehicles.<\/p>\n

“If you think about where newly registered Chinese brands were a little over 18 months ago, back in January 2024, they were only 5.4 percent of the market,” he said.<\/p>\n

“It’s going to take a long time for those cars to start filtering through the used-vehicle market.”<\/p>\n

\"BYD's<\/p>\n

A shipment of BYD vehicles sits on a wharf at Yantai Port in the Chinese province of Shandong in July 2024.<\/p>\n

CFOTO<\/p>\n

Fallowfield said the gap in the used-car market was largely a matter of timing and supply, rather than distrust of Chinese brands.<\/p>\n

As more Chinese vehicles entered the market and aged into the second-hand fleet, he expected used-car volumes to catch up.<\/p>\n

For electric vehicles, another obstacle is buyer confidence.<\/p>\n

Concerns about battery lifespan and resale value had overtaken range and charging as the main reasons consumers ruled out buying an EV, according to Trade Me’s report.<\/p>\n

Consideration of electric vehicles fell from 30.7 percent among new-car buyers to just 8.2 percent among used-car buyers.<\/p>\n

“That’s not a lack of EV interest, it’s a lack of confidence in used ones,” Trade Me said.<\/p>\n

Fallowfield said there had been cases in which consumers found that EV batteries did not last as long as expected, adding to concerns about buying second-hand electric vehicles.<\/p>\n

But he said battery technology was evolving rapidly, and many EV models were becoming well established in the used-car market.<\/p>\n

Greater transparency and consumer education would be important to building confidence, Fallowfield said.<\/p>\n

Battery test reports, clear information on battery life and expected lifespan, and standardised battery-health ratings displayed on vehicles could help reassure buyers, he said.<\/p>\n

\"Richard<\/p>\n

Richard Briggs, group manager of delivery and partnerships at the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority.<\/p>\n

Supplied<\/p>\n

Richard Briggs, group manager of delivery and partnerships at the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority, said some early imported electric vehicles had relatively small batteries and lacked active cooling systems.<\/p>\n

Some used nickel manganese cobalt battery chemistry, which he said was more sensitive to heat and charging patterns.<\/p>\n

Limiting charging to about 80 percent could help slow degradation, while prolonged exposure to heat, frequent rapid charging and extended periods at a full state of charge could contribute to a noticeable loss of range as the vehicles aged, he said.<\/p>\n

Newer electric vehicles, however, often use a different battery chemistry, Briggs said.<\/p>\n

Many Chinese-made models use lithium iron phosphate batteries, which are designed to withstand more charging cycles and have a longer service life, and more thermally safe, he said.<\/p>\n

\"Hand<\/p>\n

Concerns about battery life and resale value are now the main reasons consumers are ruling out buying an EV.<\/p>\n

Jackyenjoyphotography<\/p>\n

Briggs added that EV batteries gradually lose the ability to hold as much energy over time, reducing the distance a vehicle can travel on a full charge.<\/p>\n

However, he said the decline could be so gradual that drivers might not notice it from one year to the next.<\/p>\n

Some batteries in newer electric vehicles could last well over a decade, and in some cases as long as 20 years, Briggs said, potentially outlasting the vehicles themselves.<\/p>\n

For consumers concerned about the battery life of a used electric vehicle, Briggs said buying from a dealer with a good understanding of EVs and battery health could offer more reassurance.<\/p>\n

He also recommended obtaining an independent battery-health report before purchase, particularly for older imported EVs, so buyers had a clear picture of the battery’s condition rather than relying on the odometer reading alone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Chinese automakers are rapidly gaining ground in New Zealand’s car market, particularly new electric vehicles. However, their next…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":597310,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[138,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-597309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597309","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=597309"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597309\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/597310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=597309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=597309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=597309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}