Another month in the books and our industry continues to impress with its resilience in 2024. The VFACTS new car sales data released this week showed 111,099 vehicles sold last month, the best May result ever recorded and another example of the industry defying the ongoing economic slowdown. What is interesting from this data is that Australians appear to be responding positively to the new breed of vehicles entering the market, with hybrid (HEV) and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) vehicles capturing 15.8% of the market, up from 8.1% just a year ago.
While this is fantastic to see as we continue the movement towards more efficient vehicles, this trend does put added pressure on the rest of the automotive industry. The cost of operating a small business continues to be a significant issue and the added financial outlay of preparing for the transition to a more electrified fleet only amplifies this issue. The government has announced several funding buckets for small businesses to assist them during this challenging period. However, we are advocating for much more assistance in the way of support for infrastructure, equipment, and skills.
MTA Queensland, through our Registered Training Organisation the MTA Institute, are now bringing industry-leading accredited BEV and HEV training to businesses and their employees right across Queensland to assist our members in upskilling in areas they require. As we continue to roll out this training, we look forward to hearing from industry about where and when they need training to ensure we are covering every gap.
18 June 2024