In New Zealand, vehicle registration plates (usually called number plates) contain up to six alphanumeric characters, depending on the type of vehicle and the date of registration. Number plates display these characters on the back of powered vehicles and non-powered vehicles such as caravans and trailers authorised to travel on New Zealand roads. Most vehicles (i.e. cars, trucks, vans, etc.) are required to display plates on the front as well.
Contents
Cars and heavy vehicles
Private cars, taxis, and heavier road vehicles in New Zealand have number plates with up to six characters. From 1964 until 2001 these number plates had two letters followed by one to four numbers (format LLnnnn), the sequence having started with "AA100" and continuing through to "ZZ9989" chronologically (for example, XE3782 would have been issued in 1998). An observer could therefore ascertain the approximate date of first registration of a vehicle by means of the number plate.
By the end of 2000 this system had reached the end of the alphabet ("ZZ"). The series officially ended with plate "ZZ9989" - the sequence "ZZ999Ø" to "ZZ9999" had appeared as personalised plates years earlier. A new system began in April 2001, with three letters (starting with "AAA") followed by three numbers (format LLLnnn), with nnn starting at 100. Land Transport New Zealand also issued "AAA1ØØ" to "AAA1Ø3" as personalised plates, officially meaning that the first plate in the new series read "AAA1Ø4".
Starting with "CEA", the number ranges started with 1, as in the old system. The authorities issued this series according to the first two letters — the third letter and numbers did not necessarily get issued in sequence. As of March 2017 the registration pattern had reached "KM" followed by a third letter and one to three numbers (for example: "KMA123").
Unlike in many countries, observers cannot normally identify a location of registration by simply looking at the number-plate. One exception to this rule occurred when LLnnnn plates first appeared in 1964: most plates went to the regions in batches, starting with the "AA" series in Southland and moving progressively north. For some time one could reasonably infer that an "AF" plate hailed from Dunedin, an "AI" plate from South Canterbury, and so on. In some later instances issuers coded plates to the area of registration, such as in 1966 with the allocation of plates beginning with "CE" to the Wanganui-Manawatu region, in 1974-1976 with the allocation of plates beginning with "HB" to the Hawke's Bay region, in May 1989 with the allocation of plates beginning with "OG" to Wellington region, and in July 2000 with the allocation of plates beginning with "ZI" to Auckland region.
Motorcycles and tractors
These vehicles use one of several five-character systems. Since 2009 the system has consisted of one letter, followed by one number followed by three letters; for example 'A2ATL'.
The previous system consisted of one or two numbers followed by three letters. The system incremented the number-sequence first, so after plate "12ABC" comes "13ABC", and "99ABC" precedes "01ABD". In July 2009, these plates had reached the "ZUU"-range.
Caravans and trailers
As of 2007, caravan and trailer number plates have the format LnnnL (e.g. A123A), reaching N881S by July 2009 Also, silver-on-black plates can have trailers with motorcycle plates before the "RNA" range in 1990. Two older formats are the Lnnnn format and the nnnnL format which were still shown on black-on-white plates (e.g. 6176M, P8317) Also, some silver-on-black plates had the format as shown above with nnnnI (e.g. 5727I)
History
Before 1925 vehicle registration took place on a regional rather than on a country-wide basis. Vehicles displayed their registration numbers on the right-hand side of the vehicle, often painted on. From 1925, the authorities issued steel plates to vehicle-owners annually. The first plates were USA made green with white numbers prefixed with NZ (nnn-nnn). The 1926/27 year was black with white numbers with the following plates black with orange numbers (nnn*nnn). This system changed when steel supplies became limited during World War II: from 1941 plates remained valid for 5 years.
The issue of permanent registration-plates started in 1964. These new plates had silver letters and numbers on black aluminium plates, and started with "AA100". The LLnnnn system started at this time. An example, a 1969 police car with an FB plate, can be viewed at MOTAT Auckland. Plates beginning with the letters "DC" were reserved for government use only.
Reflectorised white plates with black characters replaced silver-on-black plates in November 1986, officially starting with "NA1", though an earlier limited trial run had taken place during the "MX1-MX999" run some weeks earlier.
The old silver-on-black plates remain valid and in use, though only on older vehicles. Vehicle-owners in New Zealand do not have to change registration plates when ownership of a vehicle changes, which means one can buy a pre-1987 used car which still has old silver-on-black plates on it. If old silver-on-black plates on a vehicle become irreparably damaged, the newer black-on-white plates may supplant them.
The font used remained the same during the change from silver-on-black plates to black-on-white plates. From "PC1Ø" onwards (approximately 1989-1990), zeroes have a slash through them (e.g. PP52Ø9, UO8ØØØ).
Plates used sans-serif lettering until the start of the letter codes beginning "DFN" (March 2006), since when plates have used a heavier, partially serifed font, squarer and thicker-lined. WhatTheFont does not recognise the new "based on a German design" style. The free font Licenz replicates the style and spacing of this design. The authorities introduced the new font in order to foil attempts to cut out letters and put them back in upside-down when forging license plates.
Design
Later plates with a white background may feature a holographic pattern on the white field, observed from the XDnnnn-series. This design, visible only from certain angles and under appropriate lighting-conditions, displays strips of silver roundels with a stylised silver fern pattern in silhouette.
Most plates come in rectangular form with all the code characters on a single horizontal line. Plates for motorcycles may split the code between two horizontal lines, or may be a smaller version of the car plate. Plates on the front mudguards of motorcycles can take the overall form of an arc, although this form is no longer issued.
Commemorative plates
In general, numbers in the systems do not have leading zeroes, starting with 1000 in the LLnnnn system and 100 and later 1 in the LLLnnn system. A commemorative series of plates celebrating New Zealand's national rugby union team, the All Blacks, follows the LLnnnn system but with a leading zero after the letters "AB" (for "All Blacks"), giving them the format "AB0nnn".
In 1990 a special series of commemorative plates marked the country's sesquicentenary. These had the format nnnnNZ, with the lettering in red on white.
Personalised plates
Rights to unique combinations of up to six characters can be purchased from a private company licensed by the NZ Transport Agency. The purchaser may acquire any unique combination that falls outside the standard numbering sequences (apart from derogatory, obscene, or intentionally confusing combinations) or standard numbers that have fallen into disuse. New Zealand does not require associating the plate with a vehicle, and allows outright sale rather than just a periodic lease.
Although plate character/number combinations can contain "spaces", they do not form part of the unique identification and are typically not stored (for example, in Police computer-systems). Therefore, if a personalised plate such as "I A I" exists an owner cannot purchase a combination such as "IAI", and vice versa.
The most sought-after combinations available as personalised plates (such as "A1" or "AAAAAA") became special "collector plates", with lettering in blue on white. These plates are often offered for sale at a significant premium to standard plates.
As of 2016 prospective buyers can order a personalised set of plates as:
Number-plate accessories
A number of companies provide alternatives to the standard message plate. Number-plate frames attach to the plate and provide space for messages above and/or below the license number, thus potentially perpetrating advertising. Several Maori iwi promote identity and traditional graphic designs in frames.
Number-plate lookup systems
Several New Zealand web sites now offer Number-plate lookup systems to access the data stored when registering a vehicle. Most of these services are free and available to the public.