Our take on the latest Car registrations (Thu 2 Jun 2022)
Rental car registrations up 194%pa in May
Small new cars up 24%pa
Large used cars down 58%pa
The key numbers...
- Total car registrations were down 18%pa in May, with only 17,461 cars registered, bringing the annual total to 241,000 over the year to May.
- Used cars were weak in May, with 6,886 registrations, a fall of 39%pa. Large used cars were hit particularly hard, down 58%, while used small cars were only down 0.1%pa.
- There were 1,59 rental car registrations in May, almost triple the number registered in May last year.
- New cars grew 5.9%pa, as 10,757 new cars were registered. The growth is largely based on the strength of small new cars, which totalled 4,480 in May, up 24%pa.
- Hybrid and electric vehicles have been strong recently, up 219%pa and 44%pa in the three months to May respectively.
New and small cars make up a larger share of registrations
% share of total cars
...and our reaction
- The drop in used cars was as expected, while the resilience in new car sales impressed us in May.
- The Clean Car Discount scheme and high fuel prices have weakened demand for larger and less fuel-efficient cars. Smaller and more fuel-efficient cars are now relatively more affordable, both on a purchasing and ongoing cost-basis, keeping demand for new small cars strong.
- New, smaller cars are supported by the growth in the number of EVs and hybrids registered, particularly since the Clean Car Discount now encompasses a wider range of ‘clean cars’.
- May showed a strong recovery in rental car registrations. On 11 May, the government announced a faster timeline for borders re-opening, helping boost the near-term tourism outlook. Should tourism fully recover to the pre-pandemic levels it could add over 7,000 rental car registrations annually.
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