
The Millennium Car Sales Report: Are the New Millenniums coming for you?
There are more than 10 million cars in Australia’s private and government fleets, the latest data shows, marking a significant increase on the 11 million vehicles that the government estimates will be in Australia in 2040.
The numbers, from data compiled by Automotive Australia and the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), come amid growing concern about the economic outlook for Australia’s future.
The ABS report, which is based on an analysis of the country’s population and trends over the last 10 years, showed that car sales had fallen by more than 40 per cent between 2014 and 2021.
While the figures do not include private car sales for private ownership, they show that there has been a significant reduction in the number of private ownership vehicles in Australia over the same period.
There were more than 7.6 million private vehicles in 2016, compared with 7.4 million in 2021.
But the ABS said the number that was owned by people was also growing faster than in previous years.
The report found that private ownership in Australia grew by a further 1.6 per cent to 5.9 million in 2019, while ownership of private vehicles rose by more just under 1 per cent.
“While these figures may not be as dramatic as some might have hoped, the overall trend is positive for the future of private vehicle ownership in the country,” the ABS report said.
“Private vehicle ownership continues to be a growing sector and this trend will continue as the economy recovers.”
With the growth of private car ownership, the number and cost of private insurance, combined with a rise in rental and leasing costs, has led to a significant decrease in the value of private automobile ownership over the past 10 years.
“The ABS said private vehicle sales have fallen in the past decade, with sales declining by more that 50 per cent in 2020 and by more nearly 50 per and 50 per in 2021, respectively.
But it said that overall private vehicle investment and ownership was growing, with private vehicle purchases increasing by 2.6 percentage points in 2021 compared to the previous year.
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