New car wait times to drop in 2024

Australians bought more new cars in 2023 than any year previously but that won’t happen again this year and shoppers are expected to benefit.

New-car sales will drop significantly this year as economic conditions and cost of living pressures begin to bite, the local boss of luxury car maker Lexus predicts.

Lexus chief executive John Pappas says last year’s record new-car sales were “extraordinary” and wouldn’t be repeated this year. Buyers will also benefit from reduced new car wait times.

He says the record sales weren’t a “true indication” of customer demand for new cars because the market was simply recovering from the supply shortages caused by Covid.

He predicts Australians will buy between 1.05 and 1.1 million new cars, down from the 1.2 million they bought last year.

Lexus had an “extraordinary” year. Source: Supplied

“Last year for us, like the industry, was extraordinary because it didn’t really give you a true indication. We were catching up on supply from the previous year of orders,” he says.

Lexus sales last year doubled to more than 15,000 and Pappas says the brand could have sold more if it had the supply.

He said the record sales didn’t match the current demand for vehicles, which had been dampened by tougher economic conditions.

New car sales are expected to fall in 2024.

“The numbers were very impressive, no doubt, but a significant portion of those customers ordered their vehicles a very long time ago in many cases. Moving into this year in 2024 we’re definitely seeing a much better balance between supply and demand,” he said.

That would in turn lead to a welcome reduction in waiting times for customers.

At times Lexus buyers were having to wait up to two years for a vehicle, but this year the wait times were down to between two and four months for 70 per cent of its line-up.

The Lexus LBX small SUV will join the line-up this year.

By the middle of this year, that figure would be 90 per cent.

Lexus will add two new vehicles this year, the small LBX crossover and the GX off-roader, bringing to nine the number of new or revised models introduced to the range since 2019.

“It’s a massive product renewal that is revitalising Lexus and attracting new customers,” he says.

Of those vehicles, 60 per cent were hybrids and the brand aims to move that figure to 80 per cent by the end of the year.