New proposal could see the size of parking bays increased across Australia

The size of car parks across the country could be increased to make room for the larger American-style cars and appliances that have grown in popularity in Australia.

Standards Australia is inviting public input on a draft proposal aimed at expanding the standard size of off-street parking lots.

The revision follows the rise in popularity of American-style double cabs and mega trucks such as the Ford Ranger and Toyota Hilux; the two best selling cars in Australia.

New imports like the Ram 1500 and GWM ute are also proving popular alongside old favorites like the Mazda BT50 and Isuzu D-Max.

Under the new proposal, off-street parking spaces, such as car parks, will be extended to a length of 5.6 metres.

National dimension requirements for on-street and off-street parking spaces are set by Standards Australia and are currently 2.4m by 5.4m.

An expert said it is not just the width and length of car parks that need to be reviewed, but also their weight, with larger and heavier vehicles at risk of causing multi-level car parks to collapse.

“The weight of vehicles has doubled over the last decade,” said urban planner and author Dr David Mepham. Nine News.

“It is not enough to review the size, we must also review the weight.

“Car parks have collapsed overseas because of (the) weight of the cars – they can’t support the weight, so there’s been a tendency not only to look at the size of the car park, but also the engineering.”

Utes and SUVs are driving Australia’s car market, which is on track for a record year in 2023 for new car sales.

NSW recorded the highest growth in new car purchases at 24 per cent, followed by Western Australia at 22 per cent, Tasmania at 21 per cent and the ACT at 20 per cent.

SUVs outsold other types of vehicles nationwide, with more than 64,000 sold during September, accounting for 57 percent of the auto market.

The sales figure represented a 29 percent increase on September last year, or an additional 14,409 SUVs sold.

Toyota’s HiLux ute claimed the title of most popular vehicle model in September, followed by the Ford Ranger ute, while Tesla’s Model Y electric SUV came in third.

Sales of electric cars also rose last month, accounting for eight per cent of all new vehicles with 8,821 sold – 1,574 more than in September last year.

The data showed that sales of electric vehicles in 2023 had quadrupled compared to 2022, with more than 65,000 electric cars sold between January and September, compared with less than 22,000 a year earlier.

Sales of all lower-emission vehicles, including hybrids, plug-in hybrids and battery electrics, represented 18.3 percent of new car sales in September.