Car registrations

EVs and used vehicle registrations surge at end of 2023

10 Jan 2024

Brad Olsen

Our take on the latest Car registrations (Wed 10 Jan 2024)

Used car registrations up 50%pa in December 2023 quarter

New car registrations down 1.2%pa in December 2023 quarter

Biggest month ever for full battery EVs

The key numbers...

There were 21,365 first-time car registrations in the December month ahead of the end of the Clean Car Discount, taking quarterly registrations to just over 62,000.
Registrations have been continuing to rise solidly each month (once seasonal effects are accounted for) after earlier changes to the Clean Car Discount in mid-2023.
Used car registrations numbered 32,090 in the quarter, up 50% from the December 2022 quarter, driven by the sizable boost of 12,806 in the December month alone. However, new car registrations of 30,074 in the quarter were 1.2% lower than the same time in 2022.
There were 8,345 new rental car registration in the December 2023 quarter, up 37% from a year ago.
There were nearly 4,350 full battery EVs (BEVs) registered in December 2023, the largest monthly total for BEVs ever, ahead of the previous record (the month before in November) and before then the March 2023 record of just over 3,000.
PHEVs registrations also saw a record in December, and non plug-in hybrids rose but didn’t quite make it to record levels. Petrol registrations fell, and only account for 20% of monthly registrations.

End of Clean Car Discount prompts different segment outcomes

Monthly car registrations, seasonally adjusted

...and our reaction

The end of the Clean Car Discount predictably saw BEV and other lower emissions vehicle registrations rise considerably, as people moved to lock in the government subsidy before it ended and these vehicles became more expensive.
The notable increase in used car registrations is also clearly due to the end of the Discount, with used BEV and both PHEV and non plug-in registrations doubling or tripling registration numbers in the December quarter. Households (and dealers) were clearly getting in on the government subsidy for used vehicle sales before it ended.
However, on the surface it’s harder to fully explain the subdued level of new car registrations, given the strength in used registrations. For new registrations, the number of people waiting to register a new petrol car without a fee on top more than outweighed the people wanting to get the government-funded subsidy. New BEV and hybrid registrations were still up, but new petrol registrations plunged 43%pa in the last quarter of 2023.
It's not clear how the vehicles market performs without the Discount in place, but removal of the Discount does provide some clues. Higher new petrol registrations expected are to be expected in the short term, but there’s still an open question over what the “new normal” for BEV and hybrids settles out at.
In the US market, EV sales have still been growing but at a less frantic pace than in 2022, with the still high cost of EVs alongside charging concerns cited as reasons for the moderation in growth.
Please note, we have scaled back our car and commercial registrations news release coverage to quarterly.

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Car registrations

EVs and used vehicle registrations surge at end of 2023

The key numbers...

End of Clean Car Discount prompts different segment outcomes

...and our reaction

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