Both Australia and New Zealand’s start to 2022 has been a little muted when compared to the first two months of 2021. However, both have a retail channel helping to keep the contraction at a minimum. Australia shows a total market decline of 1.4% for February YTD with 155,924 registrations in 2022, while for New Zealand there was a 2.5% contraction with 25,157 registrations in 2022 so far. With both countries re-opening borders to free travel in 2022 after strict COVID 19 measures, it will be interesting to see if this can help shore up the decline in registrations.
Which Australian retail market segment is up in 2022?
For Australia, it is the Private segment and, to a lesser extent, RAC (2.9%) which is helping to keep the contraction to a minimum. Up by 3.7% for 2022 or almost 3,200 registrations, the Private channel has helped mute the losses seen in True Fleet (- 4.3%) and Dealer & Manufacturer (- 21.1%). On a state level, the Private channel saw an increase from nearly all states and territories apart from ACT, NT & NSW. Victoria showed the largest increase with an extra 1,700 registrations followed by Queensland with almost 1,200. With the recent flooding in New South Wales greatly affecting all market channels, it is no surprise to see the Private market here was most affected, shrinking by 2.4% or a little under 700 registrations.
What is fuelling the Private Market?
Petrol is the clear answer in Australia, with over 65.8% of all registrations coming from this fuel type. However, in 2022 this fuel has declined by 3.9% though three states (TAS, SA & WA) bucked this trend to show an increase. Now, given the current global fuel prices, while unlikely to have affected the Jan/Feb registrations too much yet, it will push the Alternative fuel registrations. Hybrids are already showing a growth of 37.6% for Feb YTD or 1,900 registrations and while PHEV and Electric are also improving, there is still a way to go to catch Hybrid.
Unlike most of Europe diesel engine vehicles are on the rise in the Private market and have been on the increase since 2020. For 2022 YTD Victoria leads with the largest volume increase for the Private market, for any fuel type, and shows an extra 1,012 new Diesels on the road. While Queensland on 872 and New South Wales with 737 registrations were not far behind.
Which New Zealand retail market segment is up in 2022?
For New Zealand, it is the True Fleet segment which has helped to keep the Total market contraction to just 2.5% as all other segments showed a drop for Feb YTD 2022. True Fleet was up by 23.3% for February and this has helped the channel to show a 6.0% increase in the YTD numbers. Private is down by 2.8%, RAC showed a – 10.4% and the Dealer & Manufacturer channel has contracted by 14.2%. Unsurprisingly, Auckland leads the way in terms of registrations, as it does every month for all market segments, and for True Fleet we saw a 1.9% increase. Christchurch followed with a slightly more impressive 23.9% growth, but this equated to only an extra 20 registrations over Auckland’s volume increase. Out of the top 10 cities/districts, it was the Selwyn district that saw the largest growth with a 133.3% increase for the channel.
What is fuelling the True Fleet Market?
Again, there is a clear standout in fuels: Diesel. This fuel type is currently up by 17% and while both Electric and PHEV show better growth rates for True Fleet, their total amount of registrations for Feb YTD is less than the volume increase amount of Diesel registrations. This choice of Diesel engines in True Fleets is no different in the Australian market which prefers also has Diesel as the dominant fuel type for True Fleets.
Models & Brands – Australia & New Zealand
Utilities or “Utes” rule in terms of vehicle volume, no matter which side of the Tasman Sea you sit on. It is the Hilux which holds the crown in Australia, currently showing around 8,400 registration YTD though this is a drop of around 4.1% over Feb YTD 2021. New Zealand’s crown goes to the Ford Ranger with slightly more than 2,000 registered, though this is an increase of over 37% in terms of growth.
Toyota reigns supreme as Australia’s number one brand and is currently showing a growth of 2.8%, with its next nearest rival, Mazda, over 17,500 registrations behind. Though a mention of 3rd place Mitsubishi is certainly required as they are showing a growth of 26.1% for the YTD. In New Zealand, Mitsubishi’s surge continues as they have knocked Toyota off the top spot and have an increase of 54.7% for the year so far, while Toyota in 2nd place have taken a 29.1% decline over YTD 2021.
