SUVs popular choice in slowing market
Car buyers say they want SUVs, not passenger cars.
The latest survey of 50,000 Australians indicates that sales in a changing new car market are likely to slow over the long-term, according to research firm Roy Morgan.
Data collected over the three months leading to February 2018 predicts that 2.28 million people plan to purchase a new car in the next four years, which is down from the record-high 2.55 million at the same time last year.
The intention to buy in the next 12 months has also dropped below 600,000 potential customers for the first time in over a year.
An unsurprising figure, which the latest Vfacts reports confirm, is that SUV sales will eclipse sales of collapsing interest in passenger vehicles.
Specifically, 623,000 Australians want to get into an SUV in the next 12 months which is an increase of 25 per cent compared to last year and twice as many buyers as hatchback customers.
“Over the last decade or more, there has been considerable growth in the new vehicle market with rising intention of purchasing a new car in the next four years, but we are now seeing a softening in the market,” said Roy Morgan communications director Norman Morris.
“We have already seen some early signs of changes in this industry, particularly in the very rapid changes in body style preference, the move away from four and five door cars to SUVs.
“Roy Morgan has been collecting and analysing a wide range of automotive data for many years across all the major manufacturers and as a result have a database uniquely suited to tracking consumer behaviour and attitudes in this fast changing industry.”