Car registrations

Spike in new rentals lifts car registrations in March

3 Apr 2023

Joel Glynn

Our take on the latest Car registrations (Mon 3 Apr 2023)

First-time car registrations increased 32% in March (seasonally adjusted)

Registrations of new rental cars 11x larger than the pre-pandemic average for March (2017-2019)

Full battery and hybrid electric vehicles comprised 51% of total car registrations in March

The key numbers...

First-time car registrations totalled 21,311 in March, a 32% increase from February after adjusting for seasonal effects.
The increase in March is from an admittedly weak result for February, but still represents the highest level of registrations since March 2022, when registrations of higher-emissions vehicles were rushed through to avoid the introduction of the Clean Car Discount on 1 April 2022.
Strong registrations in March were primarily driven by higher registrations for new cars, which increased 39% from February. However, registrations of used cars also increased 5.8% in March (both figures seasonally adjusted).
Nearly 12% of new car registrations in March were rental cars, with 1,395 new rental cars registered in the month. New rental registrations in March were nearly 11 times higher than the average March total between 2017-2019.
For the first time, the majority of car registrations in March were for full battery, plug-in or conventional hybrid electric vehicles. These vehicles comprised 51% of total car registrations, up from around 45% of registrations over the last six months.

Spike in new rentals lifts car registrations in March

New rental car registrations, annual running total

...and our reaction

Car registrations finished the March quarter strongly. The strength of new and small cars underpinned the substantial increase in March registrations, as these market segments both increased 39% from February after accounting for seasonal factors.
Although new rental registrations were very high for the March month, total registrations over the last year are still 11% below their average for the three years to March 2019. The rental fleet is still in the process of being scaled back up after the pandemic, in line with recovering international tourism activity.
The popularity of full battery and hybrid electric vehicles continues to grow, with annual full battery and hybrid electric vehicle registrations up 166% in the March 2023 year.
Government policies, such as the Clean Car Discount and Clean Car Standard schemes, continue to drive the shift towards newer, smaller, and lower-emissions vehicles. Trends towards these market segments have been ongoing for a year now, although these trends are likely to hit a ceiling at some point. Only a limited number of buyers will be willing or able to purchase newer, smaller, and lower-emissions vehicles, even with government incentives – not to mention practical limitations such as constrained supply or higher prices for these vehicle types.
If this ceiling is reached, the government might need to consider additional policies to further increase registrations of new, small, and low-emissions vehicles. However, after recently axing the proposed Clear Car Upgrade scheme, further incentives look more unlikely for now.

Latest updates

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Car registrations

Spike in new rentals lifts car registrations in March

The key numbers...

Spike in new rentals lifts car registrations in March

...and our reaction

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