So many models, so many brands Your guide to an informed decisionRegardless of what the industry voices are saying, 2021 was a year of surprises – not all of them bad.

Oh, there were times when the uncertainty was seriously scary and some businesses saw a very dark year but for the auto industry, well there really isn’t much room for complaint.
Would I care to defend that? OK, since we are now in January, year-end results have come in and check this out: there were 165,287 vehicle registrations in 2021 – a Covid year, which eclipsed the year before by 45,837 units or 38.3 percent and the strongest year that was 2018, which mustered 161,519 registrations (and there was dancing in the streets as I recall).
And as for December showing a fade out into 2022? Like merry fun!
There were 12,097 sales in December, the strongest on record and up 44.3 percent, or 3714 units up on 2020’s efforts.
 Hey, I’m not saying it was easy, but the auto industry had it a damn sight better than just about everyone else, no auto distributors closed their doors permanently this year – can’t say the same for the restaurant and hospitality industries.   
Ah ah, before I start getting hate mail from ‘the ‘’how tough it’s been’’ auto folks out there, let’s look at some other facts.
Last year we published the annual Fleet Buyer’s Guide and – as per usual – it was quite labour intensive. In it, we had two pages of electric vehicles and a page and a half of plug-in hybrids.
In just under 12 calendar months, with the publication of this year’s Fleet Buyer’s Guide, you will see there are three pages of electric vehicles and no less than six pages dedicated to hybrid vehicles.
Small wonder sales and registrations have increased across the board!
Ok, enough beating people up, even if it is gently and with love. But the standout takeaway here is the auto industry has never looked quite so athletic and robust, and we’re doing the right thing by increasing our uptake of cleaner and greener vehicles, which can’t be bad.
In the meantime, of course we have the usual hiccup of some vehicles arriving just after we’ve gone public with the latest and greatest.
I’ll be making my traditional abject apologies in the April edition for putting the ‘on the ground’ product in the magazine rather than the ‘in the sky’ product which no one’s really sure about when it will arrive.
I have to admit, looking over the pages, I do have a little tingle of excitement for 2022 and what is to come, given what we have seen this year.
I hinted we might need a PHEV/Electric Fleet Buyer’s Guide in addition to the one we already have as I have discovered that not all EVs/PHEVs are created equal.
Maybe 2023 will be the year this will happen. I do think readers are going to be far more educated and exposed to ICE-free motoring over the next 12 months.  
In saying this, there is still a considerable selection of ICE vehicles for fleet users and small business operators to consider.
The numbers don’t seem to be declining in either the new SUVs or new utility vehicles which we still have an ongoing love affair with.
The SUVs I get, the utes? Well, I’m still of the opinion that a van offers more and in terms of dollars – frequently makes more sense, especially given the taxation issues of ute ownership – but this notwithstanding, I have seen more and more non-traditional ute drivers in rugged trucks.
What, I ask, does an accountancy firm want with sign written utes?
I have yet to find out, but while I try to find time to ask them, stroll through a supermarket car park and watch the ute drivers – they’re not all you expect them to be.
As to our other high-flying segment, the Compact SUVs just seem to keep on keeping on. If you remember a few years ago, it was the Medium SUVs which soaked up all the glory.
For the past two years, the Compact SUV segment has been winning the hearts and minds of Kiwi buyers which leads observers to assume that this is more than a passing fad.
We have seen inroads made at the other end of the scale too, with large and super large SUVs vying for supremacy, to the point that laughing uproariously at a seven seat SUV commanding a +$100k price now makes one look like an ignoramus at best.
As editor, I am duty bound to protect the interests of my publisher – one of which is NZ Company Vehicle magazine, so, while all efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, no responsibility will be taken by the publisher for inaccurate information or for consequences of reliance on this information.   
And with the legal t’s and C’s out of the way, take some time to peruse the pages and see just what might be available for your vehicle and/or fleet requirements.

See the digital version of the Fleet Buyers Guide here