Weekly Dealer Car Enquiries: September 4, 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 are trending in the right direction once again, with last week’s data seeing a total of 1,546 dealer connections in the seven-day period ending Sunday, September 4. 2022. The increase, which is just shy of 6% higher than the preceding week, is a positive sign for the overall market given the headwinds at play.

This data was recorded in the week leading up to the Reserve Bank of Australia’s latest interest rate decision, which has since seen the central bank hike rates by 50 basis points. The fact that new car buyers are largely aware of these rate hikes in advance, and still actively searching for new cars, is a great vote of confidence. 

The strength of the jobs market is likely playing a role on this front, because apart from higher rates, households have also had to contend with a sharply higher cost of living throughout 2022, with little respite on the way. New car prices are also markedly higher than they were at the beginning of the year, so the fact new car buying interest remains relatively robust in absolute terms somewhat understates what is going on in real terms. 

New car interest by brand

While interest in perennial favourite Kia eased modestly last week, this was offset by a surge among other brands, most notably Toyota and Ford. Further down the list, the likes of Nissan, Mitsubishi, and M.G. also recorded an uptick in terms of new car buying interest.

Whereas normally in a week where overall dealer connections rise we would typically see strength from some other major frontrunner brands, this time Hyundai, Isuzu, Mazda, and Subaru all recorded a slight reduction in dealer connections.

While the likes of Tesla are gaining traction across the nation in terms of sales, forward interest hasn’t quite flowed through to the PriceMyCar community as yet, which instead seems to be more concerned with value-oriented brands. In due course, however, we expect there may be a gradual increase in interest for EV manufacturers as the switch to electrification gains momentum.

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