Our take on the latest Car registrations (Fri 4 Sept 2020)
Total car registrations down 23%pa
Total car registrations (excluding rentals) down 17%pa
Canterbury and Auckland see largest hits
The key numbers...
- Passenger vehicle registrations slumped by 23%pa in August after a rally in July, as the car market was hit by the Auckland lockdown, a collapse in rental registrations, and more cautious consumer spending.
- Just 63 rental vehicles were registered in August, down 96% from the 1,441 registered last August.
- Used car registrations, down 27%pa, fell by more than new car registrations, which declined 17%pa.
- Car registrations had been strengthening after April’s Level 4 lockdown, but August’s result was worse than both June and July 2020. Total registrations haven’t filled in April’s hole yet and are still sitting 27%pa lower over the five-month period.
- The fall in registrations was broad-based, with all sizes showing declines. Used small vehicle registrations were hardest hit, down 34%pa.
Total car registrations
Monthly sales. Source: NZTA
...and our reaction
- August rolled back any feelings of strength in car registrations that were seen in the previous two months, as the post-lockdown surge ended abruptly.
- The collapse in international tourism has seen rental registrations drop to near-zero as replacements and additions to rental fleets are now off the table. However, even when this decline in rental registrations is removed, car registrations still fell heavily.
- Vehicle registering activity in Auckland fell markedly in August as expected, with Level 3 restrictions imposed on the Super City for half the month. However, most regions recorded declines, with Canterbury recording the largest fall, highlighting that the slowdown is not just due to the Auckland lockdown.
- Even with some of the headline decline in registrations attributable to specific causes, the August figures still paint a picture of underlying weakness that outweighs previous optimism for registrations.
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