News & Views

Following on from the disruption of 2020, many businesses are conducting structural reviews into their fleet, seeking initiatives that can increase efficiency, and reduce costs. From our perspective, telematics systems, and the insights they provide should play a key role in this process, grounding decisions in verifiable business intelligence.

But are telematics living up to this ideal? As can be seen in the table below, the proportion of Corporate Fleets using telematics has declined since 2018, with only the largest (250+ vehicle) fleets increasing usage. Alongside this, our small and medium-sized Corporate Fleets have seen significant increases when it comes to former telematics users.

Australia ended 2020 with over 100,000 fewer new vehicle sales than the year before. While this is understandable given the impact of COVID-19, we feel that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Australian new car sales (as at Feb '21) have now risen for the fourth consecutive month, with the market recording a 5% YoY jump in February off the back of almost 85,000 new vehicles sold. Encouragingly, this growth is almost entirely driven by consumers (YoY sales up 16%), as they regain the confidence to start spending on big-ticket items.

January 2021 saw the new year start with a bang, as almost 80,000 vehicles were sold off the back of further easing in COVID-19 restrictions, and the Australian economy returning to a more ‘normal’ business setting. Year on year, this resulted in double digit growth (up 11.1% vs. January 2020). While that appears strong at face value, does it hold true once we dig a little deeper.

November sees a number of changes to life in Australia, as Melbourne (and Victoria more broadly) returns to a greater semblance of normality. Anecdotal feedback suggests that we'll see that reflected in financial results over the next month, as Victorians take advantage of the opportunity to see friends, and relatives, visit cafes and restaurants, and generally enjoy an increased level of freedom.

The latest updates to our Recovery Playbook are in line with the worsening results we see in our COVID-19 SME Sentiment Tracker, clearly demonstrating the impact the second wave of outbreaks is having on consumer and business confidence. 

The top three technologies shaping the future of fleet management to 2025 are 1) connectivity 2) automation and 3) electrification according to a recent survey of fleet management executives conducted by ACA Research.

As we move into the second half of the year, the Australian Bureau of Statistics is starting to release more detail from its 2019 Motor Vehicle Census, letting us dig into the Australian car parc at a national, and state level.

As we move into the second half of 2019, it's a good point to reflect on YTD new car sales, assessing the overall health of the market, as well as seeing how recent trends are continuing to evolve.

12 June 2019 - Macquarie Telecom, part of Macquarie Telecom Group (ASX: MAQ), has signed a new deal with Australian interstate vehicle transport service Carways to supply mobile, voice, SD-WAN and business nbn data services.