Our take on the latest Car registrations (Wed 7 Apr 2021)
Used car registrations up 13% (sa) in March
New car registrations up 1.5% (sa)
New rental car registrations making up losses
The key numbers...
- There were 21,125 cars registered in March, which was 51% more than March last year. However, considering lockdown began in March 2020, this is a slightly misleading comparison. Total car registrations were up 3.2% (seasonally adjusted) from February.
- Used car registrations were up 13% (seasonally adjusted) between February and March, while new car registrations were up 1.5% (seasonally adjusted).
- New small car registrations were up 20% (seasonally adjusted) and at their highest monthly level in over two decades, boosted by a surge in electric vehicles.
- There were 488 new rental car registrations in March, far more than normal for this time of year, lifting rental registrations over the last three months 15%pa higher.
New small car sales (up to 1600cc)
As % of total new car sales
...and our reaction
- March was a strong month for car registrations, and we expect a strong recovery throughout 2021 following the negative effect of the pandemic on sales last year.
- Demand for vehicles appears to be strong, but because the supply chain for cars is patchy, we expect monthly registrations to be lumpy throughout the year
- The rental car market is rebuilding stock, just in time for the Australia-New Zealand travel bubble.
- The growing availability of electric vehicles and the recent Clean Car Import Standard recommendation from the Climate Change Commission should cause registrations to trend towards smaller cars.
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