Our take on the latest Car registrations (Thu 5 Sept 2019)
New large car registrations up 0.5%pa in August 2019
New rental car registrations up 41%pa in August 2019
New car registrations (excluding rentals) down 6.9%pa in August 2019
The key numbers...
- New large car registrations edged up 0.5%pa in August 2019, while new small car registrations fell 5.8%pa, seeing overall new car registrations 1.5%pa lower in August.
- A large increase in new rental car registrations softened the decline in new car registrations, rising 41%pa in August 2019. Excluding rental cars new car registrations fell 6.9%pa.
- Used car registrations fell 7.6%pa in August 2019.
New rental car registrations
Annual running total
...and our reaction
- There is a chink of daylight in the doom and gloom of the car market. New large car registrations have grown (albeit only slightly) for the second month in a row and, on a seasonally adjusted basis, total registrations of new cars grew 2.9% over the three months to August 2019, compared to the previous three months.
- Rental cars are driving the growth in new car registrations, making up 16% of all new car registrations in August 2019. In the past two months, registrations of new rental cars have picked up as rental car companies begin to prepare for the peak tourist season.
- The strength of growth in new rental car registrations is unexpected given economic conditions. With growth in the global economy slowing, particularly in our key Asian tourist markets, the outlook for New Zealand tourism is weaker than it has been in recent years. The next few months’ data will tell us whether or not the recent growth in new rental car registrations reflects a genuine intent to grow the rental fleet.
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