It was for the first time in four months in August that New Zealand new car registrations fell - down 1.25 percent to 4,417 on July and down 22.3 percent on a year ago.

The New Zealand Transport Agency said on Friday: “Used car registrations -- generally imported used cars -- totalled 5,874 last month, down 4.6 percent on the previous month and 15 percent down on 2008.”

The government agency also said that the month also witnessed new commercial vehicle registrations at 1,028, down 16 percent from July and 36.3 percent lower than a year ago.

A lot of instability has been noticed in new car sales across the year, hitting an 11-year low in February, as the protracted recession hit demand and households restricted their spending and borrowing.