Features
22 Aug 18

Corporate Mobility in Australia: Size Matters

Almost 20 million vehicles are on register in Australia today. 14 million of these are passenger vehicles, but a remarkable 3.2 million vehicles are LCVs. Also motorcycles remain popular, with 0.9 million units on register in 2018. The average age of passenger vehicles has remained steady for the last 5 years (9.8 years), whereas the average LCV age has slightly increased from 10.4 years to 10.5 years since 2013.

The number of vehicles per 1000 population remains stable.

 

All Motorised vehicles

PV

LCV

Motorcycles

2013

752

569

119

33

2017

773

579

127

35

2018

776

580

129

35

 

Business Fleets

Research done by ACA Research demonstrates that 419,000 Australian businesses have a fleet of cars.

  • 400,000 companies have between 1 and 19 vehicles (total number of units unknown)
  • 11,000 companies have between 20 and 49 vehicles and represent a total 305,000 units
  • 7,000 companies have between 50 and 250 vehicles and represent a total fleet of 515,000 units
  • 1,000 companies have more than 250 vehicles and represent a total fleet of 1,342,000 units

Impact on Fleet Management

According to AFMA, the Australasian Fleet Management Association, 44% of all the fleet customers are not using FMOs (Fleet Management Organisation) to support the management of their fleets. 49% of all companies don’t use external finance and fund for vehicles themselves. Although the supply chain is very mature and various products and services are available, only a minority of the total number of companies with fleets dedicate money and resources to the management of their fleets.

Window for mobility solutions

AFMA’s Mace Hartley likes to point out the main concern of the Australian Fleet Manager: cost reduction. He’s very aware of the fact that 418,000 companies with fleets don’t have the time, money or people to develop strategies and execute initiatives related to process efficiency, employee satisfaction, environmental impact,.. They’re trying to keep things afloat, fight fires and make sure the transactional side of fleet management is secured. This is, again according to Mace, the space in which mobility can thrive: take away some of the daily hassles and create time for strategy

Mobility in Australia?

Again, the Australian Fleet Managers are not essentially different from the European Fleet Managers. They are trying to answer the same questions: understanding mobility solutions, trying to figure out the path from “now” to “mobility”, puzzling together the various but different options that are available on the market… Mace continues: “It starts with self-awareness. Do you understand what mobility means for you and your company? For the supplier, it starts by educating the client.”

“The next job is to understand how your company is changing, don’t forget that mobility is more than just about cars. It will change your entire workplace. Also, involve your suppliers, listen to how they see the future and what steps they’ll be taking to get there. Finally, don’t isolate yourselves. Talk to your peers.”

Brief overview of mobility in Australia

ACA Research interviewed about 700 companies to understand what types of mobility they use today. Taxi is still most popular (55% of the interviewees use taxi services), followed by rental cars (50%). Ride sharing scores 38% and car sharing is in used by only by 23% of the interviewed companies. Moving forward, the services identified as the first to become successful in the mobility arena are park sharing, ride hailing (as an extension of taxi services) and UBI (usage based insurance). Australia is expected to evolve towards a European mobility model, where car ownership will continue playing a key role.

The content of this article is based on Mace Hartley's presentation during Connector's M15 Mobility Forum in Sydney on July 26th 2018

Authored by: Yves Helven