New car registrations down almost 35%

The Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) has released official new vehicle statistics that show new car registrations for the year to date are down 34.6% (51,904) on the same period last year (79,350).

Last month, new car registrations declined by 72.3% (1,751) when compared to May 2019 (6,320).

Retailers' showrooms were closed until May 18 as a result of Covid-19 restrictions, impacting heavily on sales.

The decline so far this year in Mayo is less marked, with 1,016 new cars registered up to the end of May, compared to 1,337 in the same period last year – a drop of 24.01%.

The commercial vehicle sector was also impacted nationally. Light commercials vehicles (LCV) are down 70.3% (510) compared to May last year (1,717) and year to date are down 31.3% (10,016). Heavy goods vehicle registrations are down 69.8% (90) in comparison to May 2019 (298). Year to date, HGVs are down 23.2% (1,141).

Used car imports for May (857) saw a decrease of 90.8% on May 2019 (9,347), while year to date imports are down 58.9% (18,525) on 2019 (45,066).

Brian Cooke, SIMI director general, said: “Our industry is grateful to be open for business again. SIMI members continue to implement social distancing and sanitisation measures, in accordance with both industry and state guidelines, that will protect both their employees and customers against the spread of Covid-19.”

He added: “With new car sales for the month over 70% down on May last year and with both the dire economic outlook for the rest of the year and no hire drive activity, it is clearly going to be a very challenging period for the industry. In the short term the state should expedite the safe re-opening of NCT and also re-instate the government grants for company electric vehicle purchases.

“The key July registration period is fast approaching, and the motor industry has commenced promotional activity with a variety of attractive new car offers already announced in order to optimise sales. In addition, strong government support in the coming weeks, months and year will be vital in helping the industry support the nearly 50,000 people in employment.”

The top five selling car brands in Ireland this year are: Toyota, Volkswagen, Hyundai, Skoda and Ford. The top five selling models are: Toyota Corolla, Hyundai Tucson, Volkswagen Tiguan, Ford Focus and Hyundai Kona.

Diesel remains the most popular engine choice (44.08%), followed by petrol (37.57%), hybrid (12.31%), electric (3.57%) and plug-in hybrid (2.19%).

Unrealistic targets

Meanwhile, a new national study of over 1,000 Irish consumers by the Irish Car Carbon Reduction Alliance (ICCRA) to coincide with the launch of its new E-Way 2040 campaign has found that four in five people aged over 25 do not think the government’s plan to ban petrol and diesel cars by 2030 is achievable.

Denis Murphy, a spokesperson for ICCRA, said that Irish consumers – and the motoring sector – are strong believers and supporters of reducing their car carbon footprint. However, they want clarity and cost-effective solutions that can have a real and lasting positive impact, not confusion and unrealistic targets.

He elaborated: “More than half of consumers (57%) in Connaught are confused about the car options available to them and their impact on the environment. We also know that conflicting information on what is actually an environmentally friendly car is a significant concern to two thirds of Irish consumers. Furthermore, almost nine out of 10 (88%) drivers in the province admitted they don’t know the CO2 emissions from their current vehicle.

“These findings clearly show the widespread confusion among consumers, a factor which is only adding to uncertainty at a critical time as the economy begins to reopen.”

Environmentally friendly

According to the report, 48% of consumers in Connaught would be willing to consider buying a car with an internal combustion engine (ICE) if it could be shown to be more environmentally friendly. However, 42% of respondents, rising to 60% among 18-24-year-olds, stated that the government’s planned 2030 ICE engine ban would stop them buying a diesel or petrol engine car in the next five years.

When considering an electric vehicle, over half (56%) of the people surveyed said they are not willing to pay a premium to go electric. Probing further, the survey highlighted that the lack of appropriate charging infrastructure (75%) and lack of sufficient time (54%) are key consumer barriers to going electric.

Mr. Murphy said that as coronavirus restrictions ease, the increased traffic would serve as a reminder of the need to incentivise immediate action to reduce fuel emissions.

“In the absence of a vaccine for the coronavirus, as we move through the phase of reopening Irish society we can expect a significant increase in traffic as commuters reconsider public transport for multiple reasons. Simply banning cars is not feasible, and so the best way to reduce emissions in the transport sector is to incentivise the replacement of old emissions-intensive cars with newer and more fuel-efficient models. By 2021, the average new car on Irish roads will emit 28% fewer car emissions than the current fleet.”

The E-Way2040.ie website provides impartial, factual information on the latest motor vehicle options available as well as outlining a wider industry approach to get Ireland on the road to zero car emissions.

Mr. Murphy concluded: “We know from this research that electric vehicles will not be the answer for the overwhelming majority of Irish consumers for many years to come. Currently, there are around 8,500 electric vehicles on the roads, just about 1% of the government’s target of 850,000 EVs on the road by 2030.

“Furthermore, given that the cost of your average electric vehicle is over €21,000 more expensive (before subsidies) than the average new petrol car and with the lack of charging stations, especially in rural Ireland, this will not change anytime soon. The net result will be many older, emissions-intensive cars on the road much longer than they should be as consumers hold off on new car purchases.”

*Pictured above, a Toyota dealership with measures in place due to Covid-19. Toyota is Ireland's most popular marque so far this year but it's a depressed market due to the pandemic.