Data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that the average age of passenger vehicles in Australia has now reached double figures, at 10.1 years. Tasmanian cars were the oldest on average, at 12.5 years and the Northern Territory, New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory are the youngest, sitting at 9.5 years, below the national average.

The average age of light commercial vehicles including Utes in Australia is older than passenger vehicles at 10.6 years. Tasmanian Utes were the oldest again, at 13.5 years and the Australian Capital Territory is the youngest, sitting at 9.4 years.

The national fleet of registered vehicles increased by 1.5 per cent over the past year, which was a slower rate of growth than the 1.7 per cent the previous year.

Electric vehicle registrations almost double

Registrations of electric vehicles have risen sharply in 2020, however petrol powered vehicles still dominate the fleet.

“While electric vehicles are still small in number, less than 0.1 per cent of the fleet, the 14,253 electric vehicles registered in 2020 is almost double the previous year,” said Sarah Kiely, Director of ABS Transport Statistics.
There were 19.8 million registered vehicles in Australia on the 31st of January 2020, an increase of 1.5 per cent from 2019. Diesel registrations grew again in 2020, with diesel powered vehicles now comprising 25.6 per cent of the national fleet. Petrol powered vehicles in 2020 account for 72.7 per cent of the fleet, down from 73.6 per cent in 2019.

While the national vehicle fleet grew by 1.5 per cent between 2019 and 2020, this was a slower rate of growth than the previous year. All states and territories reported a slowdown in growth in 2020, with the exception of Tasmania (remaining steady at 2.6 per cent) and Western Australia (1.5 per cent growth, up from 0.6 per cent in 2019). The Northern Territory was the only state or territory to record an overall fall in the number of vehicles registered, with a decrease of 0.7 per cent.

Toyota continued to hold out top spot as the most popular vehicle make registered in Australia, with 3.0 million Toyotas registered in 2020. Registrations of Holdens and Fords continue to decrease, with both falling by 5.8 per cent from 2019. Despite the decline, Holden remains the second most popular make and Ford comes in at fourth. Mazda retains its place as the 3rd most popular make registered in Australia and Hyundai rounds out the top 5.

The 2020 Motor Vehicle Census details the number of registered motor vehicles in Australia and provides information such as vehicle type, vehicle characteristics including the year of manufacture, and type of fuel used.