Vehicle usage through the pandemic

In this article, ACA Research takes a look at how vehicle usage has changed in the last two years

Vehicle usage used to be incredibly consistent. While there were changes, they tended to happen over extended periods of time. This was disrupted through 2020 and 2021, with many vehicles sitting idle for long periods. That created issues for any business working on the basis of distance travelled (for example, servicing, insurance, finance, and so on), forcing them to review all their underlying assumptions and processes. To what extent did usage really decline though? Looking at data from the ABS, we can see that the average distance any individual vehicle travelled in 2020 dropped by around 10 percent (13,617km to 12,085km). While that’s quite significant, the flipside is that some vehicles were doing large mileage through the heart of the pandemic. In fact, Australian vehicles travelled almost 240m kilometres in 2020. To get to the full story, we therefore needed to go deeper. We had a look at how average distances travelled by each type of vehicle changed versus 2016, finding that while passenger vehicles were sitting at home, usage of utes and vans remained slightly higher (given industries like construction were in many cases exempt from movement restrictions). Bus usage also significantly fell off the back of the reduced movement of people. This was however clearly not the case for heavier commercial vehicles, with trucks travelling largely similar distances in 2020 as in 2016. That isn’t however to say that passenger and light commercial vehicles weren’t being used in some places. In fact, looking at usage by state, it is much more variable than might be assumed. It is no surprise that passenger vehicle usage was well down in most states and territories, but this was less pronounced in Western Australia and South Australia. Also, light commercial vehicles in the key lockdown states of NSW and Victoria were on the road significantly more than their counterparts in Queensland, South Australia, or Western Australia. Alongside this, despite restrictions in Victoria, truck traffic through the state was actually higher than recorded in 2016 – one can assume a by-product of vast increases to last mile delivery services. Ultimately, this again reminds us of the importance of digging deeper into statistics such as these. While the national numbers are interesting, they hide the nuance in the data. A business in Victoria supporting commercial vehicles can tell a much more positive story than one in Queensland, despite the vastly different experiences in those states during the pandemic. As a reminder here, a key resource that is available to help AAAA members understand their local environment is the car parc data. This digital platform provides insights around the car parc, households and businesses down to an LGA level. This tool is also in line for a significant upgrade in 2022 – watch this space. This column was prepared for AAAA Magazine by ACA Research, the AAAA’s partners in the AAAA Aftermarket Dashboard which is delivered to AAAA members each quarter. For more information, visit www.acaresearch.com.au or contact Ben Selwyn on bselwyn@acaresearch.com.au

COOLDRIVE TO PURCHASE CALOFFROAD 4X4 SUSPENSION

A HOA has been signed for CoolDrive Auto Parts to acquire the leading suspension company

CalOffroad is an Australian importer for a number of high-end offroad suspension brands and is a direct importer of leading suspension brand Fox Shocks as well as a major distributor for Bilstein, all of which will soon be available from CoolDrive. “This acquisition of CalOffroad will strengthen our existing offroad and four-wheel-drive program,” CoolDrive Auto Parts Chief Executive Officer, John Blanchard, said. “As a business, we already have a strong footprint in this market with our own Hulk 4x4 brand, and taking CalOffroad into the CoolDrive fold will definitely strengthen our presence and allow us to continue to deliver on our customers’ wants and needs. “CalOffroad has long been considered to be at the forefront of offroad product development locally and with the four-wheel drive market continuing to grow popularity in Australia, CoolDrive now has even more quality products to offer to consumers.” Owner of CalOffroad, Cal Goodman, is excited for the future of the business once the acquisition is official. “We are really looking forward to becoming an official part of the CoolDrive Auto Parts family,” Cal said. “Like CalOffroad, the team at CoolDrive truly understand what consumers want and need from their offroad products, and they have the knowledge and industry presence to take the business to the next level across Australia and New Zealand. “The opportunities are fantastic and we can’t wait for what is to come.” Available from CalOffroad – and shortly from CoolDrive – is a full range of offroad suspension products including lift kits and accessories for four-wheel-drives including the Ford Ranger, Holden Colorado, Isuzu D-MAX and MUX, Jeep Wrangler, Mazda BT-50, Mitsubishi Triton, Nissan Navara and Patrol, Toyota HiLux and LandCruiser and the Volkswagen Amarok. A highlight of the CalOffroad product range is “the only true three-inch suspension system built to their design by the Fox factory and Bilstein in Germany.” For more information, visit www.cooldrive.com.au