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New Zealand vehicle licence plates
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. To be operated on (or parked on) any public road, most types of motor vehicles and trailers must be registered and display the corresponding registration plate(s). One plate must be affixed to the rear of the vehicle, and except in the case of a motorcycle, moped, tractor, or trailer, a second plate must be affixed to the front of the vehicle. If the visibility of a regular number plate is obstructed, for example by a bike rack mounted to a car's trailer hitch, a supplementary plate with the same registration number must be obtained and affixed to the obstruction (or the vehicle) such that it will be visible from the same direction as the regular number plate would have been.

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 came 13ABC, and 99ABC preceded 1ABD. In July 2009, these plates had reached the "ZUU" range.

as of 2024, caravan and trailer number plates have the format nnnLn (e g.123A1). This format was introunced in mid 2021. Before then, these plates had the format nnLnn (e. g. 10A12) launched in 2019. Before then, these plates had the format nLnnn (e. g. 1A123), launched in 2014, prior to that was 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). Some silver on black plates had this format with nnnnI (e. g. 5727I), and some black on white plates issued in 2002 have the format (excluding W, Y and Z as the second letter) (e. g. 123AB), in preparation of the new LnnnL format launched later that year.

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 United States made green with white numbers prefixed with NZ (nnn nnn). The 1926–1927 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 five years. Issuance of permanent registration plates commenced in 1964. These new plates were made of aluminium and had silver serials on a black background. Serials consisted of two letters and up to four numbers, and were issued sequentially, the first serial being AA100. Certain two letter series were banned or reserved for government or diplomatic use, while use of the letter V was discontinued after 1971 and, later, Q was not used as the first letter (see Exceptions below). In November 1986, the plate design officially changed to black serials on a reflectorised white background, following a trial run some weeks earlier. The first official plate of this design had the serial MX100. Silver on black plates remain valid and in use, and it is possible to buy a pre 1987 used car with such plates, as vehicle owners in New Zealand do not have to change plates when ownership of a vehicle changes. However, black on white plates may be used to replace silver on black plates that are irreparably damaged. The serial font initially remained unchanged following the design change. In mid 1990, a slash was added to the zero character; the first plate to feature a slashed zero had the serial PC10. In September 2022, Kiwi Plates (the only company authorised to produce New Zealand number plates) announced the relaunch of black number plates. After extensive work with Waka Kotahi and the New Zealand Police to ensure the plates were compatible with traffic and toll cameras, the new plates were approved with black backgrounds and an option of silver or white lettering. while the plate DC1 is reserved for the British High Commissioner to New Zealand. As the official representative of the monarch in New Zealand, the Governor General's primary vehicle carries no number plate but instead displays the royal crown. It is the only standard car permitted to operate on New Zealand roads without a number plate. However, in the NZTA System, the combination "CROWN" is used, and was issued in 1986, predating all other personalised plates by two years. Since the change to the LLLnnn format, the letters I, O and X have appeared only on plates starting with "AAI", "AAO", and "AAX" respectively; presumably the potential for confusing these letters with numbers and other similar looking letters was only realised after those initial series. Current plates eschew the letters I, O, V, and NGR in 2021. Some MG models featured plates with serials in the MG series, used as semi personalised plates, in advance of the official MG release. The full BMW series has been bought up by BMW dealers for similar use, while some Hyundai and Kia cars feature plates with serials in the HYU and KIA series respectively. Serials in the CCC and DCC series have been reserved, presumably for diplomatic vehicles. The combinations EBA, FCC, FNA–FNZ, G(A–H)A, MMM, NWA, PCP, PDW, PFZ, PGF, PGR, PHN, PQW, PSD, and PUB were also excluded. Car dealers use a separate temporary series of yellow coloured plates. These use one of several combinations of letters and numbers, most often a letter X followed by up to four digits. Originally black, these plates later became yellow in colour. In May 2019, after the Christchurch mosque shootings, the NZTA offered to replace any plates with the prefix "GUN" (issued in 2013) on request, although the series was not withdrawn.

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.

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, profane or intentionally confusing combinations, or if they promote violence, discrimination or bias) 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. In 2017 a number of proposed personalised plates (including OR6ASM, FK8R and 4UHOES) were rejected by the NZTA.

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 licence number, thus potentially perpetrating advertising. Several Maori iwi promote identity and traditional graphic designs in frames.

Section 236 and 237 of the Land Transport Act 1998 (LTA) allows public access to the Motor Vehicle Register maintained by the NZ Transport Agency. The Motor Vehicle Register records information about vehicles used on New Zealand roads and the persons responsible for their use. The information from the Register can be sourced directly from the NZTA as well as from third parties who include the information with their vehicle information reports.

Services provided directly by the New Zealand Transport Agency are listed on the official website.

Run by the police, this service allows the public to check whether a vehicle has been reported stolen.

Multiple vehicle report providers allow to check basic vehicle information free of charge by entering the registration plate number.

Although the personal information of vehicle owners is not available to the public, and many vehicles still require a tradesperson to physically identify a particular chassis and engine type. VINs attached at the NZ border start with the characters 7A. Goodyear incorporated a licence plate lookup system into its New Zealand website to suggest the correct tyre for a vehicle, although inspection, specialised equipment and a tradesman will always be required when changing tyres.

As well as purchasing this information from the NZTA through its official supplier Motochek, several companies offer automated access to their vehicle record cache on a cost per vehicle basis. This has reduced the purchase cost of the information and allows businesses to develop their own licence plate lookup systems. The companies that currently offer interfaces include MotorWeb, CarJam and Checka.

While the information on the Motor Vehicle Register is official information, the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) does not affect operation of the LTA. Section 52(3)(b)(ii) the OIA provides that nothing in the OIA derogates from:
"Any provision which is contained in any other Act of Parliament and which regulates the manner in which official information may be obtained or made available."

Inconsistencies exist in the register data making automated matching of vehicles difficult. Although many input fields are available most are not mandatory and the quality of the data entered differs depending on the experience of the operator and the information available to them. Open input fields are used in some instances where lists should be provided causing spelling differences and errors. Model and submodel names are sometimes reversed, vehicle features are often omitted. Over a third of all chassis and engine types are missing, incorrect or not machine readable.

The NZTA offers data analysis of the register but not with VIN, engine number or chassis codes as these can uniquely identify a vehicle. Technically, analysis would exclude all uniquely identifying data; however, this is a legal grey area that has hindered the development of vehicle matching systems using Motor Vehicle Register information.