Australia’s used vehicle market rebounded in July, with sales increasing 11.8% month-on-month to 240,311 units after a June slowdown driven by end-of-financial-year demonstrator clearances.
New figures from the Australian Automotive Dealer Association (AADA) and AutoGrab show the June decline reflected dealers clearing demonstrator stock ahead of June 30 rather than weaker underlying demand.
Dealer used vehicle sales increased 9.1% in July, while private sales jumped 26.2%, resulting in dealers’ share of the near-new used vehicle market slipping from 71.8% to 70.1%.
A total of 437,855 used vehicles were listed for sale during the month, up 13% on June, while the average time to sell increased to 52.1 days – the highest level recorded this year.
AADA chief executive James Voortman says the figures point to a resilient market.
“The July rebound shows the June decline was largely a seasonal effect driven by end-of-financial-year demonstrator clearances rather than any softening in underlying demand,” says Voortman.
“It’s encouraging to see dealers increase used vehicle sales during July. However, private sellers grew at a much faster rate, highlighting the competitive conditions across the used vehicle market.”
Despite selling more vehicles, dealers continued to take longer to turn over stock than private sellers. AutoGrab says dealers took around 22 days longer than private sellers to sell comparable vehicles aged between one and five years, despite discounting less frequently and less heavily.
AutoGrab chief commercial officer Saxon Odgers says supply continued to outpace demand during the month.
“Supply grew a little faster than demand in July. There were 437,855 vehicles advertised for sale, up 13% on June, against 240,311 sold, up 11.8%. The average vehicle took 52.1 days to sell, the longest of the year so far. A market can be busy and slow at the same time, and in July it was both,” says Odgers.
Private sellers accounted for almost 58% of used vehicle sales in July, with dealers making up the remaining 42.1%.
The data also highlights the different makeup of the two sales channels. Dealer sales remained concentrated in newer vehicles, with 42% of stock aged up to four years, while 61% of vehicles sold privately were 11 years old or more.
