8 likely changes to the New Zealand car market in 2026.     Emerging brands are smashing it. But wait, there is way more to come.   While 2025 was tough for some brands, the volume from emerging brands was nothing short of spectacular. While some commentators, Boost Auto included expected emerging brands to be electric first, this hasn’t been the case. There is a caveat here, which we will explore later. Emerging brand volume essentially doubled, added over 8000 units to the

Electrification is a funny thing. Globally we are still moving towards electrification at pace—albeit not at the levels were predicted, but our understanding of what counts as electrification is getting blurred. Ranger PHEV for example, is now named Ranger Hybrid, and the Chery Tiggo 7 Super-hybrid is a Plug in Hybrid. And a Prius—well, that’s always been a hybrid. So now, hybrid can mean a vehicle that cannot move electrically at all, can drive electrically most of the time

This article was written just prior to the government watering down the CCS standard under urgency. There is no doubt that used car importers and used dealers are having a tough time. The New Zealand economy is sluggish, especially in Auckland and Wellington; sourcing stock out of Japan is tough, with increased demand from other countries and the impacts of the clean car standard (CCS) all making sourcing affordable cars difficult. The result is more expensive older cars with

Could the arrival of new low cost electric cars transform New Zealand's reliance on cheap imports and kick start the EV revolution?

Now that the adoption of zero emissions vehicles has become politicised, we need a secondary path to cleaning up our fleet.

If 2025 was a tough year for your business, perhaps it is time to look at the way you do your business improvement and planning rounds for 2026. For many dealers this is an exercise about financials, whereas it could be a transformative exercise to engage with key managers and to set bold goals. A plan in your head is nothing more than an idea, and yet the best business plan is one that is developed with your team. With this in mind, below is a seven-step plan  to assist with

Your newest team member never sleeps. I recently observed an AI agent at work on a dealership inquiry. The inquiry came in at 7:35 in the morning, and the AI response in answering the customer's questions was impressive. It was natural sounding, nudged the lead along, answered the customer's questions, and followed up by e-mail and SMS.  It did all the things you would hope that a young, hungry, and professional sales consultant would do before most people have made it to the

Fancy an Ora Cat? Not many did, but what was a well-specified and good small electric car is no longer. Call it an own goal on the part of pricing from GWM, but the blame really rests on unfavorable EV legislation. With weak demand, electric vehicles are disappearing from price lists and websites.   At the other end of the scale, sir, you enquired about a Land Rover Defender PHEV? You are plumb out of luck.   How about a Fiat 500e, an Ioniq 6. Sorry madam, we are out of stock

Repetitive tasks, or tasks that need a fast first draft are perfect tasks for Ai in your dealership. With no special tools other than a phone or desktop you can help your dealership get the jump on the competition. Forget the hours of entertainment with cats singing along to APT by Rose and Bruno Mars, here’s a quick run-down of the five easiest and practical ways to improve productivity of your staff and provide a better customer experience. 1. Customer Interaction and Suppo

AutoPlay remains the most powerful tool in managing your new vehicle sales pipeline in New Zealand, yet many Dealer Principals and Sales Managers are not across how effectively or ineffectively their team uses it. This article will change all of that for you in about 6 minutes. Grab a stopwatch, reset your AutoPlay password, and let’s change all of that right now. Other than measuring units sold and GP and F&I income, you might not know whether there is room to improve in you

Shanghai’s integrated approach to transport really is quite remarkable; what lessons can New Zealand take from Shanghai?

Twenty-six years ago, U.S. vehicle production peaked at 13 million units. It has steadily declined since, and in 2023 U.S. production was just 10.6 million units. Trumps tariffs won't stop this decline.

Are new cars getting more expensive in New Zealand. The data might surprise you.

GWM, then Haval, then MG, then BYD, and now Omoda and Jaecoo, all Chinese brands, have grabbed a sizeable part of the new vehicle sales market, in a relatively short period of time. Our last emerging market was Korea. Now the three Korean brands represent 12% of the New Zealand market. Room for one more? Only those with selective memories will forget the shift in perception that took place and the journey that Hyundai and Kia have been on in the last 15 or so years. While it

Are you prepared for the road ahead? We summarise and explore the ways in which the local NZ automotive environment will change before 2030

Welcome to the 2025 Boost Auto annual predictions. What can we expect for the year ahead? CCS pain, more expensive vehicles and a price war!

Jaguar’s re-launch last month was a stark reminder of the power of the brand. A once proud marque appears to be languishing.

It is no surprise that the electric vehicle (EV) market has experienced significant growth over the past decade; the drivers are...

In this article we explore the benefits of looking closely at the conversion ratio of leads to sales, and the quality of your lead responses

You have probably heard about Tesla’s Sentry mode. It is an anti-theft feature that detects and monitors activity around a parked and...