Gronholm has now won the Rally of New Zealand four times

Gronholm led the 17-stage rally from start to finish to claim his sixth victory of the season with team-mate and fellow Finn Mikko Hirvonen second.

Peugeot's Manfred Stohl was third while MotoGP star Valentino Rossi came 11th.

Gronholm's victory secured his place as runner-up behind Frenchman Sebastien Loeb in the drivers' championship.

606 DEBATE: Give your thoughts on Gronholm's win

Gronholm, whose winning margin was 56 seconds, joined Carlos Sainz as the only driver to triumph in the Rally of New Zealand four times.

"It's a great feeling to win the rally and secure the world (manufacturers') title on the same day," said the 38-year-old.

"The manufacturer's title was always on my mind, I thought a lot about not making a mistake and looking stupid.

"Maybe it looked easy but you still have to drive and go fast," he said.

The event was the penultimate round of this year's world championship, which concludes in Wales in two weeks' time.

Rally of New Zealand final result
1 M Gronholm (Fin) Ford 4hrs 02mins 30.700secs
2 M Hirvonen (Fin) Ford 4:03:26.700
3 M Stohl (Aut) Peugeot 4:05:10.000
4 X Pons (Sp) Citroen 4:05:26.800
5 D Sordo (Sp) Citroen 4:05:51.400
6 P Solberg (Nor) Subaru 4:06:27.800
7 L-P Companc (Arg) Ford 4:13:02.300
8 J-M Latvala (Fin) Ford 4:17:53.100
9 J Hanninen (Fin) Mitsubishi 4:20:00.900
10 R Mason (NZ) Subaru 4:22:50.700

Drivers' championship standings
1 S Loeb (Fr) Citroen 112pts
2 M Gronholm (Fin) Ford 101
3 M Hirvonen (Fin) Ford 65
4 D Sordo (Sp) Citroen 47
5 M Stohl (Aut) Peugeot 46
6 P Solberg (Nor) Subaru 34
7 X Pons (Sp) Citroen 28
8 H Solberg (Nor) Peugeot 25
9 T Gardemeister (Fin) Peugeot 20
10 C Atkinson (Aus) Subaru 17