Feebate changes disrupt market
The Motor Industry Association (MIA) says registrations of new vehicles slumped to less than half the typical monthly average in July at 6,202 units.
The result was 44.1 per cent lower than July last year, 54.9 per cent down on the monthly average for 2022 and 49.6 per cent lower than the average of the first five months of this year.
However, following the market high in June and low in July, on a year-to-date basis, registrations are now only two per cent – or 1,893 units – lower when compared to 2022.
“A decline in registrations was expected for the market to rebalance following the record month of June,” says Aimee Wiley, pictured, chief executive of the MIA.
“What’s concerning is the extent of market disruption generated from the clean car discount policy changes.
“This will likely be causing unnecessary complexity and uncertainty for distributors, the dealership network and entire supply chain associated with automotive throughout the country.”
July’s total of 6,202 amounts to the lowest monthly registrations since April 2011 when excluding the Covid-19 level-four lockdown in April 2020. The breakdown for last month was 4,347 light passenger vehicles, 1,196 light commercials and 659 heavy commercials.
As for new-vehicle sales by motive power last month, 826 were battery electric vehicles (BEVs), 406 were plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), 1,150 were hybrids and 3,820 had internal-combustion engines (ICEs).
The 787 BEVs registered in the light passenger segment amounted to 54 per cent of the average monthly, year to date. The top models were Tesla’s Model Y on 169, Kia’s Niro with 147 and Volkswagen’s ID.4 on 63. BEVs comprised 18.1 per cent of this segment in July.
Last month saw 406 PHEVs registered – 64.9 per cent of the average monthly so far in 2023. The top three models were the Mitsubishi Outlander on 141 units, Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross with 89 and Lexus NX on 27. PHEVs made up 9.3 per cent of last month’s light passenger segment.
As for hybrids, 1,150 were sold last month, which was 51.7 per cent of the year-to-date average monthly. Toyota’s RAV4 topped the ladder with 307 units. Next up were the Hyundai Tucson on 113 and Honda Jazz with 75. Hybrids comprised 26.5 per cent of light passenger sales during July.
Light passenger vehicles, including SUVs, came in at 4,347 last month – down by 46 per cent on July 2022. On a year-to-date basis, they are up 1.5 per cent and 978 units compared to the same period in 2022.
When it came to commercial registrations last month, the total of 1,855 was 39.2 per cent lower than July 2022’s total of 3,052. On a year-to-date basis, sales are 10 per cent down – and by 2,871 units – when compared to the same period last year.
As for motive power, there were 15 light commercial BEVs sold in July to make the year-to-date total 178. In addition, 24 heavy commercial BEVs were registered to bring 2023’s total to 67.
Last month’s top three marques overall were Toyota with a 16.7 per cent share of the market and 1,036 units. It was followed by Ford with 14.5 per cent and 899 units, and Kia with 8.1 per cent and 501.
The top three segments in July were medium-sized SUVs on 24.7 per cent, compact SUVs with 19.2 and 4x4 pick-up/chassis cabs on 14.1 per cent.
