Weekly Dealer Car Enquiries: July 11, 2021

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

In the week ending Sunday, July 11, there was only a slight uptick in terms of the number of new car enquiries recorded across the PriceMyCar platform. With 1,583 dealer connections taking place, that was 2.7% more than the seven-day period a week prior.

Although other regions across Australia have lifted their lockdown restrictions, including Perth, Brisbane and Darwin, the situation in Greater Sydney has seen a tightening of restrictions amid a sharp escalation in the number of COVID cases.

As it stands, the prospect of an ongoing and lengthy lockdown is something that looks set to dampen consumer and business sentiment. Despite the promise of financial aid, the matter is still likely to translate into subdued interest in new cars for the time being. 

New car interest by brand

There was an unlikely shift at the top of the list for the most sought-after brands, with Ford leaping into first position, and Mazda tumbling into fourth place despite the number of dealer connections slipping just a fraction.

Ford was one of what turned out to be a few names that actually saw inbound queries increase compared with the week prior. That was enough to see it gain traction and bypass other names, however, not to be outdone, Kia also chalked up the same feat to move into second on the list. 

Interest in Kia was steady when compared with the week prior, ensuring it still fared well among value-oriented new car buyers.

There was also a lift for Volkswagen, as well as luxury brands in BMW and Mercedes-Benz, which performed solidly. This appears to have been at the expense of Subaru and Jeep, which were among the most-impacted brands last week.

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