Commercial registrations and activity
Crash landing for light commercials after fee
10 May 2022
Our take on the latest Commercial registrations and activity (Tue 10 May 2022)
New light commercial registrations crashed 81%pa in April
New medium commercials up 14%pa
New very heavy commercials up 1.7%pa
The key numbers...
- New light commercial registrations had a massive 81%pa decline in April and totalled 730, compared to around 3,500 a month on average in more usual times.
- This abysmal result for new light commercials is the lowest since the April 2020 lockdown and follows on from a record-high month in March of 9,040.
- New medium commercials grew 14%pa and very heavy commercials edged up 1.7%pa in April.
- The number of kilometres of Road User Charges (RUC) purchased in April was up 34%pa, but the total revenue was down 3.2%, as the government RUC reduction policy took effect.
Crash landing for light commercials after fee introduction
New light commercial registrations, annual running total
...and our reaction
- April’s result was a mixed bag for commercial vehicles. For light commercials it was the weakest since the first COVID-19 lockdown, whereas heavier vehicle types are holding up better. The Easter holidays and ANZAC weekend tend to naturally make April a softer month.
- We expect another few months of weakness in the light commercial space as many purchasing decisions were brought forward into March, and 2022 is not going to match last year’s exceptional growth for this vehicle type.
- The fee on high emissions vehicles under the Clean Car Discount policy is particularly punitive for light commercials which tend to not have many low emissions options available yet.
- For heavier vehicle types, demand conditions remain robust as construction work in the pipeline continues to grow, despite house prices coming off the boil. Also, commodity prices remain relatively high despite some softness coming through in April.
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