| Media item | |
| | VACC: Sole traders are back | GoAuto News,
Sandringham
by Neil Dowling
| 05 Jul 2023 | | General News - Page 32 - 431 words - ID 1884221346 - Photo: Yes - Type: Car Review - Size: 329.00cm2 | |
Auto industry returns to pre-pandemic period with rise in sole traders, decline in big business
SOLE traders in the automotive industry are back "with a vengeance" as the industry returns to a pre-pandemic era of strong small business numbers and a decline in the growth of larger employers.
The outlook from the Victorian Automotive Chamber of Commerce (VACC) is based on the latest business data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
VACC senior analyst of research and policy, Steve Bletsos, said the data paints an interesting picture in terms of how the automotive industry has fared since emerging out of the worst of the COVID-19 period.
He said ABS data as at the end of June 2022 showed 79,747 automotive businesses in operation, a net increase of 4551 businesses or six per cent over June 2021.
"On paper, this is a strong result, well surpassing the 3.4 per cent business growth achieved in 2021 during the height of the pandemic," he said.
"At the time it was supported by many business assistance measures implemented by the previous federal government including the JobKeeper program, the BoostingApprenticeship Commencements wage subsidy program and other initiatives.
"While the height of the COVID-19 period saw a large fall in the number of sole trader businesses across the automotive industry, the latest ABS data shows sole traders are back with a vengeance." Mr Bletsos said the data shows that of the 4551 new automotive businesses created in June 2022, almost three-quarters (72.2 per cent) were sole traders with no employees.
Of the remainder, 32.8 per cent were new small/micro businesses with between one and four employees.
It showed that small businesses with between five and 19 employees fell in number by four per cent (less 181 businesses) while medium-size businesses with between 20-199 employees fell by 0.9 per cent (down 40 businesses) and large businesses with 200 or more employees fell by 0.1 per cent (down four businesses).
"Therefore, sole traders and small/micro businesses were the only business types that increased between June 2021 and June 2022, and their growth was spread across 80 per cent of the automotive industry," Mr Bletsos said.
"Most notably, the largest increases in these businesses occurred within the following sectors: Passenger car hire and rental (up 15.3 per cent or 360 businesses) Motor vehicle dismantling and used parts wholesaling (up 10.6 per cent or 158 businesses) Automotive body, paint, and interior repair (up 10.1 per cent or 1306 business) Car wholesaling (up 9.2 per cent or 97 businesses) Motor vehicle manufacturing (up 7.4 per cent or 239 businesses)."
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