Weekly Dealer Car Enquiries: November 20, 2022

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

The total number of new car enquiries in the week ending Sunday, November 20, 2022, came to 1,180. By way of comparison, this was a 2.2% increase versus the week prior, where 1,155 dealer connections occurred via the PriceMyCar platform.

That modest uptick came in a week where the ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence  survey posted its first consecutive weekly increases since late September. Although still more than 25 points off the same week this time last year, and 7.6 points adrift from the weekly average this year, consumer confidence increased by 0.8 points to reach a total of 81.6 points. 

Key observations include data showing that just 30% of Australians expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, as opposed to 36% that expect to be ‘worse off’. What’s more, just 24% of respondents believe now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items, with nearly twice as many (46%) saying now is a ‘bad time to buy’. Those figures continue to represent a headwind for the auto industry, with rates only set to climb further.

New car interest by brand

Kia, Mazda, and Ford were among the most high profile winners last week, with each brand recording a moderate rise in interest among new car buyers. 

Elsewhere, BMW enjoyed a positive week, albeit at the expense of its arch-rival in Mercedes-Benz. 

Hyundai shed a position among the most sought-after brands thanks to a minor decrease in quote requests for the Korean brand, and the surge among its Japanese foe in Mazda.  

At this stage there is still negligible interest in up-and-coming brands like BYD, Cupra, and Polestar, which suggests these companies will need to commit more spending towards marketing to grow their profiles down under.

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