Contact: Matt Hobbs, MTAA CEO
Email: matt.hobbs@mtaa.com.au
Tel: 03 9829 1250
Mobile: 0419 608 845
Postal: 650 Victoria Street, North Melbourne VIC 3051
The structure of the fuel retailing industry has changed markedly over the past 10 years. Many oil companies have pulled out of the industry opting to pursue more profitable streams of revenue, and have been replaced by supermarket chains like Coles, Woolworths and Seven-Eleven. The supermarket chains can use fuel outlets as an extension of their regular businesses selling supermarket goods and petrol at discounted prices with docket vouchers.
Tyres are an essential part of the automotive industry and therefore, there will always be a market for them. The industry went into negative growth during the Global Financial crisis as consumers delayed spending but the need for tyres soon returned to strong positive growth following pent-up demand.
The motor vehicle parts retail industry has performed very well over the past 10 years, driven by an increase in discretionary household incomes. As discretionary incomes rise, consumers are given more choice to choose between new and used parts when servicing or repairing their vehicles.
The motor vehicle dealers industry in Australia experienced a steep decline in revenue and employment in the immediate aftermath of the global financial crisis. However, the industry bounced back well in 2009-10 with pent-up demand for new vehicles following a period of financial uncertainty and instability. It took a number of years for market to stabilise but now seems to be in a strong place with a gradual increase in establishments forecast in the future.
Despite a number of sectors in the automotive industry set to be hit hard by the impending closures of automotive manufacturers, it is predicted that motor vehicle dealers will continue to play a part in the market place as consumers will need an outlet to upgrade and replace vehicles. There is a shift in the types of vehicles being purchased with an emerging preference for new cars with updated technology, smaller, more fuel efficient cars, diesel cars, hybrid and electric cars.
The Motor Vehicle New Parts wholesaling industry in Australia is driven by demand in two key markets, the provision of new parts for the: 1) Manufacture of new motor vehicles; and 2) service of aftermarket parts. The demand for new parts in the manufacture of new vehicles has been in decline for a number of years as Australians have shown a preference for smaller, more fuel-efficient, imported vehicles. This will continue up until 2017 when the three remaining manufacturers in Australia, Toyota, Ford, and Holden, will cease their manufacturing operations in Australia.
That decline in Industry growth would be much more pronounced if not for the strong performance in the provision of new parts for the aftermarket industry. In the aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis many Australians put off making significant purchases such as new cars and elected instead to look after the ones they had, which increased the demand for replacement parts.
There will still be a need for the provision of new vehicle parts after car manufacturing in Australia ceases in 2017. Australians will always need replacement parts, but there will be an increasing reliance on parts from overseas. There will still be manufacturing in Australia to a number of niche clientele, but the demand will be greatly diminished. Smaller businesses will be forced to close or be taken over by larger companies as growth continues to decline over the next few years.