Our take on the latest Car registrations (Tue 2 Apr 2024)
Used car registrationsup 8.4%pain March 2024 quarter
New car registrations down 21%pa in March 2024 quarter
Full battery electric vehicle registrations down 74% in March 2024 quarter
The key numbers...
- There were 27,821 used car registrations in the March 2024 quarter, a soft 8.4%pa increase following the 50%pa increase in the December 2023 quarter, when used car registrations were boosted by a spike in full battery electric vehicle (BEV), plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) and non-plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (NPHEV) registrations ahead of the end of the Clean Car Discount.
- There were 21,587 new car registrations in the March 2024 quarter, a 21%pa decrease. January, February and March 2024 new car registrations were lower than the same months in 2023.
- BEV registrations fell 74%pa to just 1,410 in the March 2024 quarter, the largest quarterly fall ever. March 2024 quarter BEV registrations were just under one-third of the December 2023 month registrations. PHEV registrations also saw a record fall in the March 2024 quarter, down 51%pa. In contrast, NPHEV registrations rose 12%pa. Despite short-term fluctuations in response to policy changes, hybrid and full-battery registrations were up 36% over the year to March 2024.
- Total car registrations fell 6.8%pa in the March 2024 quarter.
Used car registrations soften in 2024
Quarterly registrations, annual % change
...and our reaction
- The end of the Clean Car Discount in December 2023 continued to influence vehicle registrations heading into 2024, masking the effects of the weakening economy.
- December’s spike in registrations of hybrid and full-battery vehicles, to take advantage of the Clean Car Discount’s financial incentives before it ended in December 2023, predictably led to a sharp drop in registrations heading into 2024.
- The drop in PHEV and BEV vehicle registrations was enough to see growth in used vehicle registrations soften in the March 2024 quarter.
- New vehicle registrations declined in the March 2024 quarter with drops in PHEV and BEV vehicle registrations compounded by a drop in petrol vehicle registrations.
- On a monthly basis, March 2024 saw registrations of both new and used cars down compared with the same month in 2023. This recent weakness is perhaps a sign that the wider economic slowdown and continued softening in household spending is subduing sales across the market.
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