Weekly Dealer Car Enquiries: September 25, 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

New car enquiries eased last week, continuing what has been an ‘up-and-down’ market of late, but the pull-back shouldn’t necessarily be cause for concern as the overall trend is still grinding higher.

In total, there were 1,503 requests for price quotes in the week ending Sunday, September 25, 2022, which was 14.8% lower than the preceding seven-day period.

With the US central bank pushing ahead with another supersized 75 basis point rate hike last week, that has almost certainly put the pressure back on the Reserve Bank of Australia to keep up its aggressive rate hike cycle. While our central bank has said it will be guided by the data, the reality is, the bank needs to be seen doing enough to try to quash inflation.

However, much of the inflation crisis besetting the world at this time stems from supply-side concerns, and even labour market issues, so it remains to be seen just how forceful central banks will be in targeting the demand side of the equation. And as we’ve seen of late, new car enquiries haven’t exactly been dropping off as rates have increased and new car prices have increased, instead, high-conviction buyers have stepped up. 

New car interest by brand

After what seems like an eternity, Kia has been dislodged atop the list of the most sought after car brands, with Ford knocking it off its perch. The drop in interest for Kia was more symptomatic of the week-to-week volatility of late, rather than any trend reversal for the brand, which still remains a hot favourite given its sharp pricing, and great value range.

Elsewhere, there were mixed results for the next most popular vehicles, with brands like Mitsubishi, Nissan, and M.G. faring better than the rest, but their gains were offset by a slump in queries relating to Hyundai, Isuzu, Mazda, Subaru, and Toyota.

Last week’s figures were spread across 41 different car brands, up from 39 in the preceding week ending Sunday, September 18, 2022.

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