Australia

Last modification: 26 Apr 19
Introduction: 

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and smaller islands.

One of the major changes occurring in the Australian automotive industry is the ceasing of local vehicle production. Ford stopped assembling in 2016, Toyota and Holden also announced to cease local vehicle production in 2017.

Chapter 1: Economic and business environment

Demographics

 25,319,800 (2019 est.) 
Capital

Canberra
Major cities

Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth
Languages

English (en-AU)
GDP

$52,191 USD (2018)
Unemployment rate

5.8% (2018)
Main industries

GDP Composition by Sector:
- Agriculture (4 percent)
- Industry (24.8 percent)
- Services (71.2 percent)

Industrial Production Growth Rate:
3 percent

Industries:
Mining, industrial and transportation equipment, food processing, chemicals, steel
Currency

 AUD Australian dollar
Interest rate

2,71%
Political key info

Australia is a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. 
The federal government is separated into 3 branches: 
- Legislature
- Executive
- Judiciary
76 senators sit in the Senate: twelve each from the states and two each from the mainland territories.

Australia ranks as one of the best countries to live in the world by international comparisons of wealth, education, health and quality of life. The sixth-largest country by land mass, its population is comparatively small with most people living around the eastern and south-eastern coastlines.
 
The country's first inhabitants, the Aboriginal people, are believed to have migrated from Asia tens of thousands of years before the arrival of British settlers in 1788. They now make up less than 3% of Australia's 23 million people.
 
Years of mass immigration after the Second World War heralded sweeping demographic changes, making modern Australia one of the world's most multicultural countries. But migration continues to be a sensitive issue politically.
 
In shaping its foreign and economic policy, Australia first looked to Europe and the US but in the last 20 years has developed stronger ties with Asia. It has acted as peacekeeper in the region sending missions to Solomon Islands, East Timor and Papua New Guinea.
 
Although Australia remains part of the Commonwealth, the future role of the monarchy has been a recurring issue in politics. An aging population, pressure on infrastructure and environmental concerns such as climate change are some of the long-term challenges facing the country.
Inflation

2.10% (2017)

Chapter 2 : Automotive market, segments & sales

Total Car park

18.400.000 vehicles
New vehicle registrations (Cars, LCV, Trucks)

In 2016, the Australian new vehicle market reached 1.178 million.

Update 2018:

New vehicle sales by type

Type Dec. 2018 Dec. 2017 Y-o-Y Jan.-Dec.
2018		 Jan.-Dec.
2017		 Y-o-Y
Passenger Cars 27,037 36,685 -26.3% 378,413 449,949 -15.9%
SUV 37,644 40,492 -7.0% 495,300 465,709 6.4%
Commercial Vehicles 19,393 22,165 -12.5% 237,972 236,609 0.6%
Heavy Commercial Vehicles 3,454 3,478 -0.7% 41,426 36,849 12.4%
Total 87,528 102,820 -14.9% 1,153,111 1,189,116 -3.0%



Top 10 best selling Makers/Brands

- Maker/Brand 2018 2017 Y-o-Y 2018 2017 Y-o-Y
Dec. Share Dec. Share Jan.-Dec. Share Jan.-Dec. Share
1 Toyota 15,991 18.3% 17,081 16.6% -6.4% 217,061 18.8% 216,566 18.2% 0.2%
2 Mazda 8,129 9.3% 9,102 8.9% -10.7% 111,280 9.7% 116,349 9.8% -4.4%
3 Hyundai 5,766 6.6% 6,182 6.0% -6.7% 94,187 8.2% 97,013 8.2% -2.9%
4 Mitsubishi 7,306 8.3% 9,019 8.8% -19.0% 84,944 7.4% 80,654 6.8% 5.3%
5 Ford 5,230 6.0% 5,636 5.5% -7.2% 69,081 6.0% 78,161 6.6% -11.6%
6 Holden 4,822 5.5% 12,179 11.8% -60.4% 60,751 5.3% 90,306 7.6% -32.7%
7 Kia 4,214 4.8% 4,007 3.9% 5.2% 58,815 5.1% 54,737 4.6% 7.5%
8 Nissan 4,534 5.2% 4,581 4.5% -1.0% 57,699 5.0% 56,594 4.8% 2.0%
9 Volkswagen 4,291 4.9% 5,136 5.0% -16.5% 56,620 4.9% 58,004 4.9% -2.4%
10 Honda 4,189 4.8% 5,041 4.9% -16.9% 51,525 4.5% 46,783 3.9% 10.1%
　 Others 23,056 26.3% 24,856 24.2% -7.2% 291,148 25.2% 293,949 24.7% -1.0%
Total 87,528 100.0% 102,820 100.0% -14.9% 1,153,111 100.0% 1,189,116 100.0% -3.0%
 

 
Top 5 brands (total market)

1. Toyota
2. Mazda
3. Hyundai
4. Holden
5. Ford
6. Mitsubishi
7. Kia
8. Subaru
9. Nissan
10. Volkswagen
*Source: http://www.caradvice.com.au
Model preference top 5 (total market)

1. Toyota Hilux
2. Toyota Corolla
3. Ford Ranger
4. Mazda 3
5. Toyota Camry
SUV sales accounted for 37,4% of the total market, up from 35,4% in 2015.
Dealer network (including fleet dealer network)
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.
Used car market/renewal cycle

Average lifecycle is 10.8 years.
The key remarketing channels in Australia are auctions, wholesale tender, retail yards and novated lease remarketing. 
The used-car market in Australia is approximately 3-million units sold every year. 

 

Chapter 3: Company car market

Total Fleet Park (company cars)/Fleet penetration in total fleet sales

1 million, approximately 5% of the total number of vehicles 
Evolution fleet sales (last 5 years)

Private buyers represent 51% of  new registrations, business fleets 41% and governmental sales & rental 8%). 
Top 5 fleet brands (fleet market)

1. Toyota
2. Mazda
3. Holden
4. Hyundai
5. Volkswagen

Chapter 4: Taxation & legislation

4.1 Car Taxation
Vehicle Stamp Duty in Australia by State ACT
Stamp duty on new vehicles in the ACT is charged as follows:
 
3% of the vehicle price inclusive of GST up to $45,000
5% for every dollar over $45,000
New South Wales
Stamp duty on vehicle purchases is charged as follows:
 
3% of the vehicle price inclusive of GST up to $45,000
5% for every dollar over $45,000
Example - a car costing $65,000, stamp duty would be charged at 3% of $45,000 plus 5% of $20,000 (the amount above the $45,000 threshold) = $1,350 + $1,000 = $2,350
 
Queensland
Electric/Hybrid (any number of cylinders): 2%
All other cars:
 
up to 4 cyl: 3%
up to 6 cyl: 3.5%
7 or more cyl: 4%
Tractors & mobile machinery: flat rate of $25
 
Victoria
Victoria has three thresholds for stamp duty charges though the percentage applies to the total market value of the vehicle.
 
2.5% of the vehicle price up to $35,000
4% of the total price where this lies between $35,000 and $45,000
5% of the total price where this is over $45,000
South Australia
South Australia has a low threshold that must be observed
 
$60 for the first $3,000 of the purchase price (or part thereof)
4% for every dollar over $3,000
Tasmania
Tasmania has a structure based on three price margins
 
3% of the purchase price up to $35,000
11% for every dollar between $35,000 and $45,000
4% for every dollar over $45,000
Western Australia
WA has probably the most complicated stamp duty structure in Australia!
 
2.75% of the vehicle price up to $20,000
A sliding scale is used between $20,000 and $45,000 from 2.75% to 6.5%
6.5% for every dollar over $45,000
From January 1st 2009, the rates will change to:
 
2.75% of the vehicle price up to $25,000
A sliding scale is used between $25,000 and $50,000 from 2.75% to 6.5%
6.5% for every dollar over $50,000
Remember that for new vehicles, stamp duty should always be included in any on-road cost.
 
Luxury Car Tax
On top of state taxes, the federal government have GST & the luxury car tax (Paid to the ATO).
 
What is the luxury car tax threshold?
 
The luxury car tax threshold is equal to the car limit, which is $57,123 for the 2007–08 financial year. The tax is applied to the Ex GST & ex Stamp duty price.
 
The 2008 budget has raised this tax to 33%
 
Info sourced from: the ATO website.
 
Luxury Car Tax is payable to the Australian Tax Office for all vehicles purchased whose price exceeds the luxury car tax threshold (currently $57,009) except for the cases described below.
 
Luxury Car Tax is payable only on the purchase amount exceeding this limit - not the entire purchase price.
 
In short, Luxury Car Tax is calculated as 33% of the GST exclusive portion of the vehicle purchase price over $57,009. It can be calculated using the following steps:
 
Calculate the amount subject to LCT. Take the full price of the vehicle and subtract $57,123. For example a vehicle whose GST inclusive price is $100,000 has $100,000 less $57,123 which equals $42,877 subject to Luxury Car Tax
Find the GST exclusive portion of the above figure. The easiest way to do this is to multiply the figure by 10 and then divide by 11. In the above example: $42,877 x 10 / 11 leaves $38,979
Thirdly multiple this above figure by 33% to calculate the LCT component on the vehicle price. In our example $38,979 x 33% leaves $12,863 of luxury car tax.
The Luxury Car Tax should then of course be added onto the GST inclusive price of the car. The supply price for the above example would be $112,863.
4.2 Income tax – Taxable persons A car is taken to be available for the private use of an employee on any day that they or their associates:

use it for private purposes
are allowed to use it for private purposes.
If a car is garaged at or near your employee's home, even if only for security reasons, it is taken to be available for their private use regardless of whether or not they have permission to use the car privately. Similarly, where the place of employment and residence are the same, the car is taken to be available for the private use of the employee.

Generally, travel to and from work is private use of a vehicle.
4.3 Company car For fringe benefits tax (FBT) purposes, a car is any of the following:

a sedan or station wagon
any other goods-carrying vehicle with a carrying capacity of less than one tonne, for example a panel van or utility (including four-wheel drive vehicles)
any other passenger-carrying vehicle designed to carry fewer than nine passengers.
4.4 Income taxes – drivers’ personal taxation  
4.5 Electric vehicles An Australian Tax Office ruling has provided a major boost to the economics of electric vehicles in Australia, just as enthusiasts prepare to queue up to register interest to buy the first mass-market electric vehicle to be offered in serious volume in this country.

The ATO ruling means that drivers of electric vehicles will be able to claim the same deductions for business use as they currently do for cars running on internal combustion engines.
4.6 Future developments  
4.7 Legal background (import taxes) Both the Department of Infrastructure and Transportation and the Australian Customs Border Protection Service state categorically, "Do not import a vehicle into Australia before obtaining a vehicle import approval."

If the car or any other vehicle meets certain criteria, this permit is available from the Department of Infrastructure and Transport.
 
The Department of Customs then imposes a levy on the car. This has two components - Duty and Goods and Services Tax (GST).  These are the figures:
 
Vehicles over 30 years old and motorcycles 0% Duty /  10% GST
New and used vehicles up to 30 years old 10% Duty /  10% GST
Four wheel drive off road / commercial vehicles 5% Duty / 10% GST
If the car you want to import has a GST inclusive value of $57,466 or more (as of 2011), it will be subject to Luxury Car Tax (LCT). This tax is in addition to the other charges listed above and is levied at 33% of the value above the $57,466 threshold.
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Chapter 5: Car policies

Company car entitlement:

Car allowances are more popular than car-only solutions in Australia.
- 78% of heads of organisations receive cash allowance / 4% receive a vehice
- 58% of sales people have a cash allowance / 17% receive a car



Which sectors provide most fleet cars?

Pharmaceutical, Medical, Technical services, Agriculture, Mining, Construction, Telecom

Which job functions often include a company car? 

Sales reps, technicians

Reference cars

Entry level / junior sales Hyundai Accent Active Hatch / Sedan
Hyundai i30 Active Hatchback
Toyota Corolla Ascent Hatch
Hyundai Elantra Active Sedan
Ford Focus Trend Hatch/ Sedan
Senior sales / Management level Toyota Aurion AT-X Sedan
Ford Mondeo Zetec Hatch
Hyundai i40 Elite Sedan/Wagon
Hyundai ix35 Highlander (AWD) Wagon
Ford Falcon XT Sedan
Isuzu DMax Dual Cab Utilit
Executive level Toyota Aurion Sportivo SX6 Sedan
Ford Falcon XR6
Toyota Kluger KX-R (FWD) Wagon


 

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Chapter 6: Funding methods

Overview of penetration of funding methods (buy or lease statement)  
Key Market players in fleet management

- Alphabet Australia
- Custom Fleet
- Eclipx Group Limited
- Fleetcare Pty Ltd
- LeasePlan Australia
- McMillan Shakespeare Limited
- Orix Australia
- SG Fleet
- Smartgroup
- Toyota Finance Australia
6.1 Outright purchase:  
Definition Vehicle is registered as a fixed tangible asset on the balance sheet at the acquisistion value and depreciated over total useful economic life
Pro’s and con’s

+ Transparant
+ Actual cost
+ Control

- Residual Risk
- Capital Outlay
- On Balance Sheet
- Uncertain future value
Economic & legal ownership Full ownership, included Risks asd Rewards
Business practices  
6.2 Renting (Finance lease) :  
Definition The vehicle is purchased by the financier, referred to as the Lessor and rented to the borrower, referred to as the Lessee in monthly instalments. The Lessee would still usually be able to source the vehicle and negotiate the price themselves.
Pro’s and con’s Unlike other business use car finance, the ability to claim the whole repayment as a tax deduction is available. Often clients may misunderstand this as a greater tax deduction overall and is not always the case due to the vehicle being owned by the Lessor, so the deductions for depreciation are not available under a Lease Agreement for the Lessee and the amount of deductions may also be determined on individual tax brackets. It is recommended to get professional tax advice prior to deciding which business use structure is best for your own circumstances.
Economic & legal ownership When the Residual Value is due and payable, the option to Lease this over a new term may be available and the ownership of the vehicle remains the Lessors. The other options would be to payout the Residual Value as a cash settlement, which may be done from the sale of the vehicle, or to payout the Residual Value from the Lessee’s own funds via cash or financing and if this was the case the ownership of the vehicle becomes the Lessees, by purchasing the vehicle from the Lessor for the Residual Value.
Business practices  
6.3 Full service leasing (operational leasing)  
Definition Operating Lease is set up in the same way as a Finance Lease, but the Lessee (borrower) does not take on the obligation of the Residual Value and hands the vehicle back to the Lessor (financier) at the end of the term, rather than looking for options to payout or refinance the Residual. There is the option to include maintenance as part of the Lease Agreement within an Operating Lease. This would be referred to as a Maintained Operating Lease, or a Fully Maintained Operating Lease.
Pro’s and con’s

+ Off Balance Sheet
+ No Residual Risk
+ No Capital Outlay

- Subject to usage and condition terms
Economic & legal ownership Ownership remains with the lessor
Business practices A lot of financiers have steered away from Operating Leases due to the risk of the Residual Value not being worth the market value of the car at the end of the term, but they are still available in the market and are favoured by companies with large fleets of vehicles
6.4 Fleet Management  
Definition A Novated Lease is a three way agreement between the Lessor (financier), the Lessee (borrower/employee) and the Lessee’s employer. It allows the Lessee to have the ability to salary sacrifice their Lease repayment, which can reduce their taxable income which can save them on income tax.
Pro’s and con’s If the Lessee’s employment was terminated with the business noted in the Novation Agreement prior to the term of the Lease, all repayment obligations would become the Lessees including the GST in the rental payment. This is why Novated Leases are becoming popular with employers as if their employees leave, the employer is not left with any Lease obligations.
Economic & legal ownership Lessor
Business practices  
6.5 Short term rental  
Definition  
Pro’s and con’s  
Economic & legal ownership  
Business practices  
6.6 Other funding methods  
Novated Lease

Novatad lease is a unique funding method in Australia and has gain increasingly popularity over the recent years. A novated lease combines many features of more traditional forms of vehicle leases to deliver some attractive benefits for employees and employers.
A novated lease is an agreement between the employer, the employee and the finance institution. The obligations to meet the repayments under the lease sit with the employer, with the employee salary sacrificing a portion of salary to cover the lease rental. A novated lease can be structured as either a finance or operating lease. 
The employee has the right to take the vehicle with him if he changes jobs. Also novated leases can provide other advantages to employees through their remuneration package. 

* Source: Australian Fleet Management Association
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Chapter 7: Fuel

Fuel Type Segmentation

Petrol 75,7%
Diesel 22,2%


Fuel Price Evolution
- Australian consumers clearly benefit from the highly competitive fuel market where retail petrol and diesel prices are among the lowest in the developed world.
- Country pump prices are generally higher and more stable than metropolitan prices due to differing competitive and economic characteristics
- Retail (pump) prices can be volatile in some markets, reflecting intense local market competition

2012: 1.36 USD/L , 2014: 1.4 USD / L, 2016: 0.81 USD / L, 2018: 1.13 USD / L

Fuel infrastructure
The major oil companies directly own and operate only a limited number of service stations across Australia (around 10%) and these are largely in metropolitan areas.
There are over 5,000 Service Stations in Australia.

Fuel Card Solution
 

Easily available. Credit card and fuel card solutions

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Chapter 8 : TCO components

Similar to EU, TCO for the Australians means :

  • Capital and intrests
  • Services (maintenance, tyres, insurance)
  • Taxation
  • Deductibility
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Chapter 9: Safety, insurance and telematics

9.1 Accident Rate

2016
Total Injuries: 32,300 

2017
Total road fatalities: 1,226 in 2017 (more than 3 people per day)
Road fatalities per 1,000,000 inhabitants per year:  5.4
Road fatalities per 100,000 motor vehicles: 7.3

34% of fatal crashes occur in major cities
1 in 10 crashes resulted in multiple deaths
30% of accidents occurred as a result of the car running off the road
Single-vehicle accidents were the most common accident resulting in death

https://www.budgetdirect.com.au/car-insurance/research/car-accident-statistics.html

 

9.3 Insurance offers 

  • Compulsory Third Party (CTP)/mandatory motor vehicle accident personal injuries insurance – required by each state and territory. It protects any person that you might injure while you are driving. It is not an alternative to taking out a motor policy to cover your financial liabilities, such as damage to another vehicle or property, or your own vehicle
  • Comprehensive – covers damage to your own vehicle and other people’s property, as well as theft and some other risks, plus legal costs
  • Third Party Property - covers damage to other people’s property and legal costs, but not damage to your own vehicle
  • Third Party Fire and Theft – Third Party Property with some add-on features that cover your vehicle
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Chapter 10: Environment

10.1 Trends in taxation, legislation

The Greens have proposed introducing mandatory fuel efficiency standards, ending the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030, and imposing a four-year 17% tax on luxury petrol and diesel cars as part of an electric vehicle policy announced on Tuesday.
 
Under the proposal Australia would adopt a mandatory fuel efficiency standard of 105g of CO2 a kilometre by 2022, three years earlier than a proposal being considered by the federal government.
 
It would also cut tariffs and charges on new electric or zero-emissions vehicles, including the 5% import tariff, GST and stamp duty, in order to lower the purchase price to match new petrol or diesel cars, and offer three years free registration on new zero-emissions vehicles.
 
The tax breaks, as well as a $151m national fund to build up to 3,000 electric car charging stations, would be funded by a 17% tax on fossil fuel emitting cars with a purchase price of more than $65,000. That tax would be imposed on top of the existing 33% luxury vehicle tax for cars in that price range and is expected to generate $500m a year over a limited four-year run.
 
A University of New South Wales researcher, Gail Broadbent, who is studying electric vehicles at the university’s school of biological, earth, and environmental sciences, said the targets were achievable and would increase Australia’s sluggish adoption of electric vehicles, provided exemptions were included for remote Indigenous communities that were unlikely to have access to a charging station.
 
Broadbent said introducing strict vehicle emissions targets was essential for increasing the uptake of hybrid, electric, fuel cell and other zero-emissions vehicles in Australia.
 
“There is no incentive for vehicle manufacturers to bring them into the country so we just get fobbed off the old vehicles,” she told Guardian Australia. “Electric vehicles are cheaper to maintain so there’s no incentive for manufacturers to bring them here if the policy settings do not shift.”
 
The proposal would also impose targets on large car manufacturers so that 2% of all car and light vehicle sales in Australia in 2020, increasing to 10% by 2050, were of zero-emissions vehicles.
 
Electric cars make up just 0.1% of new car sales in Australia, compared with 20% in Norway and the Netherlands, which have both introduced targets to phase out fossil fuel emitting cars by 2025 and 2030 respectively.
 
Broadbent said research by UNSW showed concern about the lack of charging stations was the biggest barrier to Australians purchasing an electric car. According to the environment and energy minister Josh Frydenberg, Australia has 476 public car charging stations.
 
The Turnbull government, through the ministerial forum on vehicle emissions, proposed introducing a mandatory 105g CO2 per km fuel efficiency standard by 2025, prompting strong backlash from the automotive industry and lobby groups.
 
A discussion paper excluded consideration of the fuel standards which would provide “the greatest health and environmental benefits”.
 
Frydenberg has said the federal government supports the rollout of electric vehicles, including offering a discount to the luxury car tax for low-emissions vehicles. He says he expects the number of electric vehicles on Australian roads to increase almost 60-fold to 230,000 cars by 2025.
 
The Greens climate change and energy spokesman, Adam Bandt, called on Labor to support the policy, which was to be announced as part of the Batman byelection campaign.
 
“This plan is the quantum leap we need to reduce emissions, meet our paltry Paris targets and to stop people dying from air pollution,” Bandt said.
 
Federal Labor’s emissions reduction policies are focused around a 50% renewable energy target by 2030, but the South Australian Labor government, which will go to the polls on the same day as Batman, has pledged to waive stamp duty and five years’ registration costs for new electric or zero-emissions cars if re-elected.
 

10.2 CO2 Figures

2016
The national average CO2 emission for passenger cars, SUVs, utes and vans was 182 g/km.
Private buyers purchased vehicles with the lowest average emissions intensity (176 g/km), followed by business buyers (187 g/km) and government buyers (201 g/km)
State government fleets had the highest emissions (204 g/km), ahead of their federal counterpart (200 g/km) and councils (195 g/km)

2017
The national average CO2 emission for passenger cars, SUVs, utes and vans was 181.7 g/km
Vehicles bought by private buyers had the lowest average carbon dioxide emissions intensity (176 g/km), followed by business buyers (186 g/km) and government buyers (199 g/km).  
State government fleets had the highest emissions (204 g/km), ahead of their federal counterpart (200 g/km) and councils (195 g/km).
Australia’s tailpipe emissions have come down by 28% over the past 15 years. However, they appeared to plateau from 2015 to 2016, with a modest drop of just 1.1% — the smallest decline since 2002, when figures were first reported.

Ref: https://www.ntc.gov.au/Media/Reports/(F4FA79EA-9A15-11F3-67D8-582BF9D39780).pdf

10.3 Green vehicles (new powertrains)

"A ‘green’ vehicle has been defined as a vehicle whose carbon dioxide emissions intensity does not exceed 120 g/km. In Australia, the proportion of green cars sold in 2017 was 3.8 per cent of total sales (compared with 2.5 per cent in 2016). 

Ref: https://www.ntc.gov.au/Media/Reports/(F4FA79EA-9A15-11F3-67D8-582BF9D39780).pdf"

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Chapter 11: Mobility

11.1 Mobility Conditions
Australia is only discovering corporate mobility services. Car sharing/pooling is not popular and cities/governments are not promoting a mobility vision. Due to its geography and city distribution, a country-wide mobility program me would be difficult to fill in and is most likely to happen in the Sydney-Melbourne axis.

11.2 Infrastructure Partnerships 
Australia and Uber have partnered together to produce Australia’s first regular measurement of road network performance – the IPA Transport Metric – spanning: 
1. Sydney;
2. Melbourne;
3. Brisbane; and
4. Perth.
The IPA Transport Metric, released for the first time in this paper, measures travel times across the day – providing new information about how the road network performs in the morning and afternoon peak periods, as well as shoulder and non-peak periods, across three zones: 
1. CBD zone;
2. the inner metro zone; and
3. outer metro zone.
Uber’s experience running ridesharing services across Australia has the potential to inform and improve urban planning. The IPA Transport Metric leverages data collected from Uber’s ridesharing network to do just that. The IPA Transport Metric captures data from Uber trips, through which a network of data is collected. Each trip is a mobile collection point for key traffic metrics such as travel times. This use of on-vehicle measurement systems will provide a wider, more detailed and granular picture of how the use of our cities’ transport systems evolves over time.

11.3 Average speeds 
Average speed across capital city arterial road networks: 63.5 km/h.
Percentage of Free Flow (POFF) - average speeds as a percentage
of free flow speeds: 94.8%
Variability - the coefficient of variation of average speeds. Highly
variable average speeds reduce the reliability and predictability of
journey time: 24.0%

Melbourne has had the largest decline in average speeds - a fall of 8.1
per cent over the 5.5-year reference period. Melbourne’s annual rate of
reduction in speed is more than twice that of Sydney.

Brisbane had the second-largest decline in speed - 3.6 per cent since
2013. Sydney was close behind with a 3.5 per cent decline. Only Darwin
achieved speed improvements, increasing by about 5.1 per cent. 

Ref: https://www.aaa.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/AAA-Congestion-Report-2018-FINAL.pdf

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Chapter 12: Key trends to watch

Fluctuating fuel prices
Austrialia's geographical isolation brings ever-fluctuating fuel prices, making it difficult for fleet managers to oversee the operational costs of their business.

Traffic delays
Roadworks and traffic delays are causing a major waste of fuel. 

Fuel card misuse
80% of fleet owners are worried about potential abuses, says Australian Transport News.

Telematics

Australia has a very dynamic telematics industry. Berg Insight forecasts that the number of fleet management systems will graw by 16% to 1.1 million systems in 2020.The local suppliers EzY2c and Coretex as well as the international vendors Mix Telematics, Ctrack and Geotab have comparably strong presence. 

Future of Fleet Management

Throughout 2017, the collaboration between fleet and other departments was on the rise as executives looked to fleet managers to help solve business-wide challenges. This will continue in 2018, especially with the evolution of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), for example, miles driven per day, number of repairs per year, miles per gallon. A fleet’s objective is to support its business function, and these KPIs translate into company objectives, like productivity, profitability, customer service and risk mitigation.
 
Safety KPIs will evolve from simply identifying risky driving behavior to include its effect on a business’s overall safety/risk score
Future technologies will further advance Fuel KPIs, allowing for a more comprehensive view of fuel efficiency including fleet’s impact on every facet of the organization
Advances in vehicle utilization technology will allow corporate leavers to match profitability to every mile driven
 
Safety
 
In Australia, vehicle accidents are the most common cause of workplace deaths and truck drivers are particularly at risk. According to Work Safe Australia, around 80 people are killed every year while
working in or around a truck, with about 40 per cent of all deaths involving a single vehicle incident. Ann Sherry AO, chair of Safe Work Australia, recently noted that more can be done to improve the safety of truck drivers in Australia. “While the data showed that driving too fast for the conditions caused some of the fatalities, for many the cause of the crash was unknown, however it is likely that fatigue and lack of concentration played some part in these deaths,” Ms Sherry said. “Improving a business’s work health and safety is critical, it increases productivity and more Australians get home safely every day because of it.”
The vast majority of transport operators have always considered the safety of their drivers of utmost importance, and many have adopted the latest technology for this very reason - to keep track of their drivers and ensure they make it home at the end of the day. Various vehicle telematics tools offer different capabilities. All allow fleet managers to keep track of vehicles and drivers in real time. If a vehicle breaks down or is involved in an accident, certain units will send journey interruption notifications to ensure drivers can get assistance as soon as possible.
 
Driver Behavior
 
Vehicle telematics solutions enable organisations to manage and monitor vehicle fleets in real time. So this technology not only protects your drivers, it also helps to significantly extend the lifespan of your vehicles.
The data they generate - whether it be odometer readings, distance travelled, engine hours and routes taken - empower fleet managers with the knowledge they need to protect their vehicles, optimise fleet performance, and hold drivers to account over their driving behaviour and productivity while on the road.
Certain units record real-time video and in-vehicle audio which help provide evidence in the event of an incident where a driver denies liability.
Optimising efficiency and performance is certainly a key concern for the majority fleet operators. According to a survey by Bobit Business Media, 59 per cent of respondents said that productivity was a major benefit of implementing telematics.
The productivity benefits of vehicle telematics should themselves be reason enough for transport companies to be interested
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