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Weekly Dealer Car Enquiries: December 26, 2021

In this series, which we aim to bring to you every week, 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

While new car enquiries continued to decline last week, there was a somewhat optimistic sign given the context surrounding the number. In total, the volume of dealer connections recorded via the PriceMyCar platform eased 7.3% last week, falling from 796 to 738 in the seven-day period ending Sunday, December 26.

While the fact we are seeing weak numbers is concerning for the broader industry, we must remember that this last week included two public holidays, as well as the lead-up to Christmas, a period where families are typically making other plans. With that in mind, looking at the day-by-day numbers we saw strength earlier in the week, such that Wednesday and Thursday were in line with results from the preceding week.

The key from here will be how numbers bounce back in the forthcoming week, which traditionally sees new car buyers flock online and to dealerships to try score a bargain in the wake of both Boxing Day sales, as well as the end of year clearance. 

Screenshot 2021-12-28 17.26.19

New car interest by brand

Mitsubishi and Hyundai were the biggest casualties over the last week, with Mitsubishi seeing interest slump by a third, despite already sinking quite notably from its recent peak. Meanwhile, Hyundai dropped out of the top five most sought-after brands, replaced by Subaru, which fared slightly better in terms of holding onto its audience.

Also doing well was Kia, which posted its second week-on-week improvement in search queries, and again defying the broader drop-off in activity. That was enough to help it resecure top position, however, dealer connections for the Korean brand are still well off all-time highs, which are more than three times current levels.

Elsewhere, Toyota maintained steady interest, while Nissan, Volvo, Honda and Audi managed to chalk up modest improvements. With many of these brands coming off a low base, the move shouldn’t be taken as indicative of any trend as yet.

 

Prospective New Car Buyer Numbers

Dec 20 – Dec 26 

Dec 13 – Dec 19 

% Change in Enquiries

Kia

84

77

9.1%

Ford

71

73

-2.7%

Mazda

71

77

-7.8%

Subaru

58

56

3.6%

Mitsubishi

52

78

-33.3%

 

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