Each month Fleet Auto News will publish a new car market wrap, powered by Melbourne-based new car research site TheBeep.com.au, using data to uncover trends, shifts and interesting findings.
This month the team has provided us with data outlining the most affordable new cars in Australia across the past year, filtered by country of origin.
“We are hearing a lot of talk around Chinese brands and other imported vehicles, so we decided to break down the data by country of origin to paint a better picture,” said The Beep Co-founder, Rob Leigh.
“I think you’ll find the data somewhat confirms what many suspected.”
The data looks at seven regions: Germany, USA, UK, Japan, South Korea, Thailand and China. Countries such as India, Poland and Portugal were excluded due to significantly lower volume sold in Australia.
Unsurprisingly, China is producing the most affordable new cars in Australia with an average price of $54,716 – up 4.4 percent across the past 12 months.
While that figure may sound high, given the various sub-$40k Chinese electric and ICE vehicles on offer, the average price factors in higher cost models like the BMW iX3 and Volvo XC60 Recharge.
A total of 13 brands manufacture vehicles in China before bringing them to Australia, including: BMW, BYD, Chery, Citroen, GWM Haval, JAC, LDV, MG, Mini, Polestar, smart, Tesla and Volvo.
South Korean cars have seen the highest average price increase now coming in at $61,592, up 11.9 percent across the past 12 months, which Mr Leigh suggests is due to the influx of premium new models like the Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid.
Germany, by contrast, is the most expensive country of origin for new cars in Australia but has seen a price reduction of 11.8 percent, with an average price of $170,610 as at August. The contraction of Porsche’s 911 range, with the introduction of its 992.2 generation, is partly to blame for the average price drop.
Smack bang in the middle is Japan, with the average price of its cars in Australia coming in at $69,036 in August this year, climbing 7.1 per cent across the past 12 months.
“Despite the continued upwards trends in pricing, the market has never been more competitive,” Mr Leigh said.
“We have a flood of new Chinese brands entering the Australian market such as Zeekr and XPeng and this in turn will continue to put pressure on the traditional brands. Ultimately, this is good for consumers.”
TheBeep.com.au has continued to expand its functionality since launching in March, offering free data for users to track market trends and compare more than 1,000 new car models.
Users can compare specifications across models, looking at engine and drivetrain details, performance metrics, fuel consumption figures, electric range capabilities, ANCAP safety ratings and of course pricing data.
Users are given the option to filter by body style, price range or fuel type to track pricing data like drive-away price, high and low points and fluctuations, across 40 brands and more than 1,000 models.
Until The Beep burst onto the scene earlier this year, data like this was typically hidden behind a paywall, not accessible to the general public.
“At our core we want to help educate the public on what’s going on in the car market – whether that’s around pricing trends, comparing specifications or finding the best deals out there,” Mr Leigh said.
