Bargains await new-car shoppers

The supply of cars to Australia is increasing and this means there are potential bargains to be had once more — after the pandemic years long waits and high prices.

The era of immovable prices and long waits for new cars in Australia could be coming to an end, with one of the world’s biggest automakers reporting vehicle deliveries to Australia are up almost 30 per cent marketwide, leading to the return of some retail discounting.

The pandemic saw wait times for popular vehicles blow out, with buyers of models like the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid, Nissan Patrol and Toyota LandCruiser waiting months, and often more than a year, for their vehicles to arrive.

It also effectively ended retail specials, discounting and in-dealership price negotiations, with restricted supply meaning buyers were forced to pay the full retail price, or — through dealership delivery charges — even more.

The Toyota RAV4 GXL Hybrid

But Hyundai in Australia says a return to pre-COVID conditions could be coming, with the brand reporting a 30 per cent increase in vehicle deliveries to Australia across the new-car market.

It says more deliveries means more cars in the country, and more ways to snare a potential bargain.

“I think what we can see across the marketplace is that, based on the two big importers, the supply side is up around 30 per cent, so that’s 30 per cent more cars coming into the country this year than last year,” Hyundai Australia’s chief operating officer, John Kett, told media at the launch of the new Hyundai Kona.

“That is good news for the industry. We can see, in the albeit very small storage rates, that more cars are being stored in compounds, and we can also see, by the little bit of end-of-financial-year discounting that goes beyond the instant tax write-off, that there are some excess cars in the marketplace.”

Hyundai deliveries to Australia are up around 15 per cent so far this year, with supply of the Tucson, Santa Fe and i30 all improving.

The interior of the 2023 Hyundai Kona Premium

Mr Kett went on to suggest the new car market would again exceed one million vehicles in Australia in 2023, despite a “softening” in orders, which could put buyers in an even stronger bargaining position.

“We take a pulse of all of our partners in the supply chain and see what’s coming in, we take a pulse of what’s maybe being stored … storage is up, and by looking at the incentives in the marketplace.

“Our feel in the industry is that supply is normalising.”

Mr Kett’s comments follow the best May on record for new-car sales in Australia (June’s figures are yet to be released), with 105,694 vehicles delivered.

That, says Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries Chief Executive Tony Weber, is owed to improved supply, and a large backlog of orders finally being delivered.

“A large proportion of vehicles delivered (in May) would have been ordered during 2022,” he says.

“This result is a signal that we are starting to see some improvement in supply. However, not all issues are resolved, and our members continue to work with their customers to improve vehicle delivery times.”