Our take on the latest Car registrations (Wed 3 Feb 2021)
New car registrations up 6.7%pa in January
Excluding rentals, new car registrations were up 11%pa
Used car registrations were down 20%pa
The key numbers...
- It was a mixed bag for car registrations to start the year with new car registrations up 6.7%pa but used car registrations falling 20%pa.
- The drop in used car registrations outweighed the gains for new cars, leaving total registrations in January down 8.1%pa.
- New rental car registrations in January were 254, down 54%pa. Although this fall is still big, it is much more modest than the average 91%pa monthly fall since April last year.
- New car imports were up 15%pa in December and 11%pa in January, while used car imports were stable in December (up 0.1%) and grew 14%pa in January.
Recovery in new car registrations, excl. rentals
Annual running total
...and our reaction
- New car registrations are off to a buzzing start to the year, helped in part by an uptick of imports over December and January.
- The pickup in new cars is likely to be attributed to people that were on waiting lists for a new vehicle.
- Although used car imports also picked up in January, sales of used cars have not yet followed.
- If imports precede sales, and the supply of vehicles entering the country has been constraining sales, we are likely to see further growth in car registrations in February.
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