Used sales rise again but dealer share slips to 40.9%

Australian used and demonstrator sales rose 1.3% in August to 243,514 vehicles, a second consecutive monthly increase, but dealers took a smaller share of them.

Dealer share of used sales fell to 40.9%, from just over 42% in July when private sellers accounted for almost 58% of the market. Figures come from the Australian Automotive Dealer Association and AutoGrab.

The near-new segment ran harder than the market overall. Sales of one to five year old vehicles rose 5.4% to 58,090.

Supply tightened at the same time. Listings fell 3.5% to 422,509, against a 13% rise in July, and average days to sell eased to 51.5 from 52.1, which had been the highest reading of the year. That leaves 1.74 vehicles listed for every one sold, down from 1.82 a month earlier.

New South Wales remained the largest near-new market on 16,956 sales, up 6.6%. Victoria was the fastest growing of the five largest states on 14,148, up 6.7%. Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia also grew, while Tasmania and the territories went backwards.

“Victoria may have taken the title for fastest-growing major market, but NSW is still comfortably the biggest, with almost 17,000 one-to-five-year-old vehicles changing hands in August,” AADA chief executive James Voortman says.

The Ford Ranger was the best-selling one to five year old used vehicle in seven of the eight states and territories, and has led every mainland state since June. The exception was the ACT, where the Toyota RAV4 beat it 27 to 19. The Toyota HiLux was second in five markets, and in the Northern Territory the two utes together took 20.4% of sales.

That dominance sits against a sharp fall in the Ranger’s new vehicle performance. Ford sold 2,440 Rangers new in August, down 50.6% year on year, while light commercials as a segment fell 22.1%.

Chinese-built vehicles accounted for five of the eight fastest-selling models across the states and territories. The BYD Shark 6 was quickest nationally at 27.9 days and retained 92.1% of its original value, while the BYD Atto 3 was fastest in Victoria at 27.7 days.

“Used EV sales rose 19.4% in August outpacing the movements in all other fuel types, albeit that EVs continue to make up a significantly smaller segment of the used market than petrol and diesel vehicles,” AutoGrab chief commercial officer Saxon Odgers says.

Speed of sale and retained value did not track together. The MG ZST sold in 23.2 days in Queensland while holding 60.7% of its original value. The Suzuki Jimny, the best-retained model nationally, took 58.3 days.