Our take on the latest Car registrations (Thu 6 Dec 2018)
Used cars sales down 25%apc
Total cars sales down 18%apc
Stinkbug season expected to run from September 2018 to March 2019
The key numbers...
- Tough car market conditions are symptomatic of broader economic fundamentals such as slowing population growth, subdued consumer and business confidence, high petrol prices and softer growth in tourist arrivals.
- The downward trend of used car purchases accelerated in November as the stinkbug season continued to hit sales.
- In October, we reported a bounce in new large car sales, but this proved to be short-lived with November showing a double-digit fall. New small car sales were the only bright spot, but even here growth has softened since last year.
Total car sales
Annual % change
...and our reaction
- Annual growth in new large car purchases fell back again in November, dropping 12% from a year earlier. In contrast, new small car purchases increased 6.0%. Overall, new car purchases fell 7.3%.
- Excluding rental cars, new car purchases fell 7.5% in November compared with a year earlier. Despite the odd blip, new rental car purchases have been falling since December 2017.
- Used car purchases fell 25% in November compared with a year earlier, the largest annual fall in a downward trend that began in February this year. Both large and small cars contributed to the fall in almost equal measure.
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