Our take on the latest Car registrations (Tue 4 May 2021)
New car registrations up 3.1% (sa) in April
Used car registrations up 2.6% (sa)
New small cars have more or less recovered
The key numbers...
- There were 18,959 cars registered in April, which was 17,650 more than April in 2020. When compared to April 2019 (a more reasonable comparison) total car registrations were up 7.3%.
- New car registrations were up 3.1% (seasonally adjusted) from March and used car registrations were up 2.6%.
- New small cars and large used cars were the subcategories that saw the biggest boost in registrations during April (seasonally adjusted), up 6.2% and 6.1%, respectively.
- New rental registrations have been stronger than usual over the last couple of months, with 872 rental cars registered in March and April, compared to 200 for the same period in 2019.
New small car registrations (up to 1600cc)
Annual running total
...and our reaction
- Car registrations continued their momentum in April as sales of both new and used cars are benefitting from a recent influx of car imports.
- However, getting a good read on April’s numbers is difficult. We usually compare registrations with the same month from the year before, but the Level 4 lockdown makes that comparison meaningless, and so we are relying on seasonally adjusted figures which are themselves still slightly distorted.
- There has been a small boost to the rental car market in response to the trans-Tasman bubble and strength in domestic tourism, although this doesn’t come close to making up for the great losses that occurred in 2020.
- New small cars have been doing well in recent months and their annual running total is now sitting around pre-pandemic levels. Recent strength in pure electric and hybrid electric cars has helped their recovery.
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