September 2022 New Car Wait Times: Part 2

In the first part of our monthly analysis of new car wait times, we detailed the makes and models with the longest wait times, as well as the state of play across the broader market, with the average wait time decreasing eight days to 151 days at the end of September.

We will now shift our attention to wait times across the different states and territories around the country, as well as the makes and models with the shortest wait times right now. Without further ado, here are the rest of September’s observations.

Wait times across the country

Still out in front, Northern Territory remains the region with the longest wait time across the nation, unchanged at 297 days while improvements were seen just about everywhere else. Keep in mind, the sub-market is relatively small, so the data may not always tell the full story as it would in some of the bigger regions.

Wait times were also unchanged in New South Wales, at odds with the improvement in other major regions. The average wait time for a new car is 165 days in NSW, and this is likely being impacted by recent weather events, otherwise we may well have seen a better result.

The market in Western Australia continues to improve, down 7 days to a total of 154 days, while there were also improvements across South Australia, -26 days, Queensland, -13 days, and Victoria, -21 days. The latter is a particularly good result given the size of the market, which is Australia’s second-largest for new car sales.

Things are also heading in the right direction in Tasmania and the ACT, where new car wait times improved by 7 days and 13 days respectively.

Makes and models with the shortest wait times

Another month, and Renault is still out in front of the rest of the field as far as stock availability, with average wait times for the brand now just 22 days, a fraction away from a record low for the company. Renault is benefitting from less impact to its supply chain, but the brand is also a low-volume seller down under, so it is largely better equipped to stock necessary stock.

Mercedes-Benz is shortly behind, although the company’s fixed-price agency model has afforded it some advantages as far as managing stock availability. Under this model, the company owns and manages its stock, rather than dealers.

Across the rest of the top five, GWM, Volvo, and Jeep all recorded encouraging improvements last month in terms of improving supplies. It tells us that it was not just the big brands that drove the first market-wide improvement in wait times last month, with smaller brands also playing their part to improve the bottom line.

With no new data coming in on the Jeep Cherokee, it remains atop the list of the models with the shortest wait times in the country, however, we expect this will shift once revised data arrives in due course. Nonetheless, the reasoning for the model’s strength in August still holds true in September, with a recent delivery of stock set to tide the market over till a new model arrives next year.

The Suzuki Vitara is back in second place, with an average wait time of just three weeks across the country proving the brand has been able to keep the supply channels for this popular model flowing freely.

Meanwhile, the M.G. 3 and Renault Koleos both have an average wait time of 25 days, unable to be separated. Coincidentally, the duo were both in relatively good shape a year ago with an average wait time well under two months, with stock readily available over recent months despite issues for the rest of the industry.

And lastly, the M.G. HS is also a prominent name, and with that data capturing its hybrid variant, the manufacturer is clearly in a prime position to take advantage of a change in the market dynamics that see hybrids and electric vehicles gaining more traction.

Supplies improved more than 60% last month for Jeep, GWM, and Audi, although there were also considerable improvements for the likes of LDV, Volvo, Ram, Isuzu, and M.G. Each of the aforementioned brands saw their wait times improve by at least 24% last month.

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