Australians waiting for their new car have been dealt yet another blow, with the recent floods in Queensland and NSW creating further delays for car manufacturers.
The industry was already struggling to keep up with demand due to a global shortage of microchips after production went down due to Covid.
Motor Trades Association of Australia chief executive Richard Dudley told 3AW on Tuesday that delays were impacting the eastern seaboard, not just Queensland and NSW.
“When you get a massive requirement of cars like that (due to the floods) in one hit … that’s adding to an already large waitlist,” Mr Dudley said.
“It comes back to that issue of the microchips … that’s still impacting the market, it’s still causing production delays. Other components and parts necessary to complete those vehicles are still in short supply.”
Mr Dudley explained car manufacturers have been dealing with “issue after issue” for the last few years, with the flood and computer chip shortage only adding to the impacts of Covid and the 2019-20 summer bushfires.
“We had the bushfires of late 2019 and early 2020, then we went smack bang into the pandemic, and that caused production lines to close down right around the world,” he said.
“Plus, we’ve got thxjmtzywe hire car companies who downsized, in fact in some cases even got rid of their fleets in the pandemic. They’re lining up to try and get replacements for those vehicles as well.”
The cost of certain used cars is continuing to peak, with Mr Dudley saying vehicles like four-wheel drives and utes are going for “incredible prices”.
