Our take on the latest Car registrations (Fri 4 Jun 2021)
New car registrations up 3.3% (sa) in May
Used car registrations up 0.5% (sa)
Resurgence in rental cars
The key numbers...
- There were 21,292 cars registered in May 2021, which was 42% higher than in May 2020, or 7.3% higher than May 2019 (a more reasonable comparison).
- New car registrations were up by 86%pa or up 32% from May 2019. Meanwhile, used car registrations were up by 18%pa, but down 7.8% from May 2019.
- Used imports are still soft, and they are now down 14% in the five months to May when compared with the same five months in 2019. In contrast, using the same comparison, new car imports are up 24%.
- There were 528 rental car registrations in May, and now rental car registrations sit 75%pa higher in the year so far.
Faster recovery for new passenger vehicles
Annual running total, registrations
...and our reaction
- May was a strong result for new cars and a middling result for used cars. This trend has been happening for a while, meaning that new car registrations have managed to recover sales volumes much faster.
- Lower availability of used cars and bigger price rises than we have seen for new cars have been shifting buyer demand towards new vehicles.
- The Trans-Tasman bubble is helping boost rental vehicle purchases. A lot of this demand will be in anticipation of winter tourism, of which Australians have historically made up a large proportion.
- Supply constraints remain problematic throughout the vehicle industry and could persist for another 12-24 months as shipping disruptions continue, some components are in short supply, and global demand rebounds. These supply factors could see registration numbers fall short of our forecasts, despite strength in underlying demand for cars.
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