New car registrations in Mayo buck the national trend

The Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) has today released the official 222 new vehicle registration figures for July.

New car registrations for last month were down 17.3% (21,902) when compared to July 2021 (26,477), while year to date registrations are down 3.6% (87,075) on the same period last year (90,330).

In Mayo, however, new car registrations year to date are at 1,653 – an increase of 1.90% on the same period last year (1,576).

Meanwhile, Light commercials vehicles (LCVs) are down 14.8% (4,039) compared to July last year (4,740), and year to date are down 21.4% (17,100). Heavy goods vehicle (HGV) registrations are down 1.6% (317) in comparison to July 2021 (322). Year to date, HGVs are down 9.4% (1,675).

Used car imports for July (4,206) have seen a decrease of 21.3% on July 2021 (5,344). Year to date, imports are down 31.1% (28,316) on 2021 (41,097).

For the month of July, 2,738 new electric vehicles were registered compared to 1,895 in July 2021. So far this year, 11,182 new electric cars have been registered in comparison to 6,225 on the same period 2021, an increase of 79.6%.

Electric vehicle, plug-in hybrids and hybrids continue to increase their market share, with a combined market share now of 40.9%. Petrol continues to remain dominant with 29.29% market share. Diesel accounts for 27.51%, hybrid 21.23%, electric 12.84% and plug-in electric hybrid 6.83%.

Commenting on the new vehicle registrations, Brian Cooke, director general of SIMI, said: “Disappointingly, July new car registrations – our second highest sales period – are down 17.3% on July 2021. This means the new car market is now 4% behind year to date and 17% behind pre-Covid 2019.”

Mr. Cooke did note the increase in EV sales, however. “The electric vehicle segment continues to grow, both in quantum and as a proportion of the new car market, with an 80% year-on-year growth and a market share of 13%.”

He added: “While it appears that there is appetite among consumers for both new and used cars, supply issues are hampering overall activity. The impact of this is another year of below par performance in the Irish new car market, which results in the Irish car fleet continuing to get older.

“The underlying new car market needs to grow significantly over the next few years if we are to optimise transport emission reductions. Government policies must contain the right measures to support and encourage the change to lower and zero emitting vehicles. Reducing EV supports or increasing taxation will only act as a barrier to change and add to the cost of living.

“In this context, SIMI is asking the government to continue its support for the EV project by extending EV supports at current levels out to 2025 and to resist any VRT increases in Budget 2023, which will only prove counterproductive and prevent us dealing with the legacy fleet in an effective manner that supports a just transition.”

The five top selling car brands year to date are: Toyota, Hyundai, Volkswagen, Kia, Skoda.

The five top selling car models year to date are: Hyundai Tucson, Toyota Corolla, Toyota C-HR, Kia Sportage, Toyota RAV4.

The five top new EV models year to date are: Volkswagen ID.4, Hyundai Ioniq 5, Kia EV6, Volkswagen ID.3, Nissan Leaf.

Market share by engine type: petrol 29.29%, diesel 27.51%, hybrid 21.23%, electric 12.84%, plug-in electric hybrid 6.83%.