After many years of being labeled a Tiida nation, in the past year, there has been a running joke that the Honda Vezel hybrid SUV is the new national vehicle of T&T.
However, the new car sales statistics for 2025 suggest that is exactly what new car owners are yearning for in this country.
Hybrids and SUVs were the top sellers across various price points, according to the new car sales statistics tabulated by Massy Motors, which was shared with the Sunday Business Guardian.
After a deep dive into the data, new car owners were purchasing these vehicle types more often than not, with hybrids comfortably outselling their gas-only alternatives.
In the sales category for vehicles which cost less than $200,000, MG stood out in terms of sales for the year with its Elegance Hybrid, a compact hybrid SUV, selling 354 units over the course of the year. The next highest seller in that price range was another MG crossover SUV, the Excite, which sold 317 Hybrid vehicles, according to the data.
Notably, the MG offered petrol versions of the Excite which also fell under the $200,000 price range but it sold just under 10 per cent of the hybrid model’s sales with 37 units sold in 2025.
Two other MG Hybrid Hatchback models also easily outsold its petrol counterparts, with the DEL Hatchback model selling 50 vehicles compared to the 2 sales of its gas counterpart, while the MG3 Hybrid Hatchback sold 88 units compared to 10 gas vehicles of that model.
Massy Motors did see 36 petrol-only Hyundai Venues, another crossover SUV, sold over the course of the year.
Over at Lifestyle Motors, the Suzuki Fronx was that company’s standout seller in the $200,000 and under price range with 199 units sold in 2025. The Fronx was also Lifestyle’s standout seller in the next price range of $200,000 to $300,000, with 488 Fronx models sold, making it the highest seller in the statistical bracket for the year.
Toyota’s best seller in this category was another SUV crossover Hybrid, the Yaris Cross, which sold 366 units in 2025.
Massy Motors also had high sales in the $200,000 to $300,000 bracket, as the two hybrid variations of the Hyundai Tucson in this range sold well. The Tucson Limited model sold 208 vehicles while the Tucson Comfort sold 237 units. Like the MG, the gas variations of the Tucson sold considerably fewer as only seven Platinum Tucson petrol only units were sold, while 22 Limited Tucson petrol-only vehicles were purchased from Massy Motors in 2025.
Massy Motors Kona hybrids also did well in this price range, selling 141 units across the two models.
Lifestyle Motors also saw success in this price bracket as the company sold 104 Grand Vitara Four Wheel Drive Hybrids as well as 185 Grand Vitara All Wheel Drive Hybrids in 2025.
The Tucson hybrid was also the company’s hottest commodity in the price range of $300,000 to $400,000 as 214 units were sold in that range. It was easily the most sought after vehicle at that price in the data sheet, followed by Honda HRV, which is the international version of the aforementioned and very popular Japan imported Vezel.
The HRV sold 95 units according to the data.As had been reported in the Business Guardian last month, in the higher price range, there was evidence of buyers gravitating from gas and hybrid vehicles to electric vehicles.
In the price range of $400,000 to $500,000, it was LaFast Motors’ BYD Sealion that commanded the highest sales in that price range.
The Sealion, a full electric SUV, sold 172 units in 2025, 101 more vehicles more than the next highest selling vehicle in that bracket: the Toyota Rav4 4x4, notably the petrol version, which sold 71 units last year.
The $500,000 to $750,000 threw out an outlier in that regard as the highest seller in that range was still a gas-only sedan.
The Mercedes-Benz C class sold 37 units, edging out the Audi’s electric SUV, the e-tron Quattro 285kW SUV, which sold 32, while another petrol Mercedes, the GLC Class Coupe COUPE sold 31 units.
Audi would also hold the top selling vehicles in the $750,000 to $1,000,000 range with the Q6 Sportback e-tron QUATTRO 285kW’s 17 units edging its petrol cousin, the Q7 PI2 2.0T FSI Quattro Tiptronic SUV, which sold 13 units.
In the range of $1 million and over, the Porsche Macan Electric SUV was the top seller with 19 units sold.
The Business Guardian reached out to officials at various other new car dealerships to confirm if the data was accurate, and the figures were verified with the sales at those companies. They also confirmed that Hybrid and SUVs were very much in demand, and in many cases, sedan and hatchback models sold were often vehicles which were left over stock from the previous year.
The new car dealers, when contacted, explained that the rise in sales for hybrid vehicles was not surprising given the tax waiver placed on such vehicles in May 2022.
That exemption, introduced by former Finance Minister Colm Imbert, removed all taxes (customs duty, motor vehicle tax and value-added tax) on passenger hybrid motor cars for private use with an engine size not exceeding 1,599 cc and an electric motor output not exceeding 105 KW.
In last year’s budget, there was a slight adjustment to this as the tax regime for Electric Vehicles (EVs) was adjusted limiting full duty exemptions to models with a value of $400,000 or less. This meant that premium EVs above that price would incur a 10 per cent customs duty, 12.5 per cent VAT, and a tiered motor vehicle tax.
According to the Central Bank’s December 2025 DataPack, for the period October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025, a total of 7,895 new private vehicles were sold in T&T, while 17,194 private vehicle were registered.
A total of 11,577 new vehicles, comprising private and commercial were sold in the period, while 22,509 private and commercial vehicles were registered from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025.
