May 2022 New Car Wait Times: Part 1

Following the launch of our new car delivery date estimator, you can now stay informed regarding all the delays and wait times affecting the Australian new car market. 

Whether you are in the market for a specific model, or keeping your options open, our handy tool will provide you with a comprehensive snapshot of wait times by brand, model, state, and even vehicle body type.

In addition, we are delighted to bring to you this monthly piece that wraps up all the latest movements across the market, helping you improve your new car buying experience by responding to the latest developments. After all, not everyone has the patience to wait more than 200 days for a new car!

On that note, here are the key developments from May.

New car market wait time

The average wait time for a new car across Australia has blown out, with the latest data providing a murky picture for the outlook of the industry. Australian motorists are now waiting an average of 146 days for a new car.

In addition, the data for recent months has been revised higher, with the March result showing an average wait of 133 days, and the April result now at 140 days. Both of these figures have increased as new data was received for certain brands where we previously had limited, or no information available.

With this latest data now at hand, it paints a worrying picture for the new car market, especially in light of the fact that a year ago the average wait time was 84 days. It also goes to the heart of recent industry sales results. New car buyers haven’t necessarily dried up, but securing stock is a difficult prospect at this time.

Ongoing component shortages, soaring inflation, as well as global supply chain woes continue to be formidable headwinds at this time. 

Makes and models with the longest wait times

Wait times in Land Rover have soared to nearly 300 days, with the Defender responsible for skewing that average result higher. The company is among a number of brands that have felt the effects of semiconductor shortages. It is dealing with a severely impacted supply chain, with limited availability of stock, particularly for export all the way to Australia.

Isuzu, despite selling just the two cars locally, is also nudging higher after the average wait time grew yet again. Price rises have done little to quash demand as well, which means the bottleneck is not likely to alleviate in any meaningful way anytime soon.

Toyota wait times were also higher last month, finishing May at 215 days, more than three months greater than the same time last year. The Japanese auto-maker suffered another setback with global production at its facilities in Japan, cutting volumes dramatically.

Meanwhile, Volkswagen and Kia both made slight improvements last month, with delays improving by 13 days and 4 days respectively, but it is safe to say that neither brand’s supply chain is firing on all cylinders at the moment. Both of these brands are dealing with issues sourcing components for global supply, which means their shortfalls are being felt all across the world. 

The Land Rover Defender is the car with the longest wait time across Australia, with new car buyers set to wait an average of nearly one year to receive delivery of the upmarket SUV. As we mentioned earlier, the brand’s supply chain has taken a hit, and the Defender is arguably the biggest casualty at a global level, let alone for local new car buyers.

Production cuts for Toyota, as well as robust demand for hybrids, continue to hamper output of the RAV4, which sits in second place among the cars with the longest wait time. The early data from June is also pointing to some concerning figures as far as a blow-out in wait times, but at the end of May the model is still a best-seller.

Isuzu is having no luck improving the supply of its MU-X, with the SUV still a difficult proposition for local car buyers to find, despite the fact it doesn’t sell as well as its peer in the D-Max, or many other models in the same vehicle category.

And lastly, Volkswagen’s global production woes are showing no signs of letting up, and that’s why models like the Passat, Transporter, and even the Multivan are sitting near peak wait times. 

A host of brands are seeing delays snowball, including Ford and Ram, with wait times up 36% and 28% respectively, as well as Mitsubishi, Mini, LDV, and Mazda, which all posted a double-digit increase last month.

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