In this series, which we hope to bring to you on a regular basis, we’ll be detailing some of the key numbers and trends that we’re seeing in terms of dealer connections made through our site.
As this data is considered somewhat representative of broader industry activity, and serves as one of the more insightful leading indicators for potential car sales, we hope it will fulfil a few purposes for our broad audience. First, to document not just how we’re performing as a business, but how dealers and the wider market stand to perform, so you don’t have to wait til that next set of official sales data.
Without further ado, here’s what happened over the last week.
Total new car enquiries
New car enquiries continued to drop in the week ending Sunday, August 8, with just the 1,180 dealer connections taking place across the seven-day period. This 14.5% drop leaves the total volume of queries at one of its lowest levels since the pandemic first hit our shores.
The impact here is entirely aligned with the lockdowns that continue to beset the east coast of Australia. While Sydney is no closer to seeing restrictions ease, Victoria’s short-lived respite saw inbound enquiries slump as soon as the state was plunged back into another longdown that increasingly looks as though it will be extended for the Melbourne metropolitan region.
Until the three states along the eastern seaboard are able to string together some stability in terms of consumer retail settings, we expect negative consumer sentiment and prevailing uncertainty to diminish interest in new cars. This was evident in the new car sales for July, where registrations across NSW were actually down 1.7% year-on-year, dragging the national average down.
New car interest by brand
Almost every leading brand saw a drop in new car buying interest last week, with Isuzu, Ford, Nissan, Subaru and Volkswagen seeing the sharpest slide.
One bright spot was Kia, a perennial favourite among PriceMyCar members. However, the modest uptick in dealer connections for the brand was not enough to otherwise offset declines elsewhere. Nonetheless, the total volume of queries for Kia sits at relatively low levels, edging back into the top five only on account of weakness among other auto brands.
|
Prospective New Car Buyer Numbers |
Aug 2 – Aug 8 |
Jul 26 – Aug 1 |
% Change in Enquiries |
|
154 |
186 |
-17.2% |
|
|
132 |
148 |
-10.8% |
|
|
127 |
140 |
-9.3% |
|
|
95 |
106 |
-10.4% |
|
|
94 |
90 |
4.4% |
|
|
76 |
97 |
-21.6% |
To get FREE access to instant pricing on just about every new car make and model, plus guaranteed discounts, sign up today
