New vehicle registrations up in Mayo and across Ireland, but so are CO2 emissions

The recent and sudden removal of the PHEV grant sends a bad signal to motorists and the industry, the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) has said today.

Figures released today show that electric vehicles (EVs), plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) and hybrids (HEVs) continue to increase their market share. Combined, their market share is now over 31.62% (diesel accounts for 33.50%, petrol for 32.20%).

The most positive aspect of the new car market is the ongoing growth in the electric car segment, according to SIMI director general Brian Cooke, and he added that EV and PHEV supports must be extended until there is a 'critical mass' of such cars to create a viable used car market.

Mr. Cooke said: “New car registrations for November were ahead of last year for both the month and year to date, although new car sales continue to remain behind pre-Covid levels.

“A further increase in EV sales is anticipated next year but, notwithstanding this, we are still in the early stages of de-carbonising the national fleet and we have a very long way to go to get close to the targets in the Climate Action Plan.

“In this context, we need to continue year on year growth in EV sales, which in turn will kick-start an active used EV market. In order to achieve this, we must both extend the EV supports until there is a critical mass of these cars to create a viable used car market, and implement a tax strategy that supports a much stronger new car market.

“The potential benefits of this approach include the acceleration of EV growth, a material reduction in emissions, removal of the worst polluters from Irish roads and increased tax revenues.”

In a recent address to the Oireachtas Committee on the Environment and Climate Action, SIMI highlighted the importance of the extension of EV supports, the rolling out of a national charging infrastructure, and an increased focus on supporting the business EV market.

“It is simply too soon to start eroding the current EV supports, and the recent and sudden removal of the PHEV grant sends a bad signal to motorists and the industry,” said Mr. Cooke.

“It is not too late to reverse this, and we would again urge the government to re-instate this support for those vehicles that the industry and consumers have already committed to.”

CO2 emissions going up

Mr. Cooke's comments come as vehicle history and data expert Cartell.ie report a rise in CO2 emissions in the Irish fleet.

In 2021, Cartell looked at the state of CO2 emissions in the private transport sector for the first 10 months of the year and compared the results to the first 10 months of the year for each year since 2003.

In November, the international COP26 stressed the urgent need for governments to introduce measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including in the private transport sector.

Cartell's report illustrates how the situation in Ireland has deteriorated over the last 12 months, however, and the gains that were recorded in 2020 have not been consolidated in respect of CO2 emissions.

In a development for government, there has been an upturn in the average CO2 emissions of new vehicles sold in Ireland: in 2021, average emissions increased, recording a reading of 112g CO2/km. This is a level equivalent to what was recorded in 2018 and far above the level of 105g CO2/km that Cartell observed for the equivalent period last year.

Surprisingly, the best segment, showing the lowest CO2 emissions, was the most expensive segment considered – vehicles over €60,000 in value. This segment brought in average emissions of just 90 CO2/km, down from 127 CO2/km for the equivalent period last year. The worst performing segment for emissions were those vehicles at the other end of the scale – vehicles priced at €20,000 or less, which recorded a figure of 122 CO2/km.

Jeff Aherne, innovation lead with Cartell.ie, commented: “We are looking exclusively at new vehicles sold in Ireland and not at imported vehicles. It is unfortunate that the figures for CO2/km in the private transport sector are increasing, just when we thought things had shifted in a favourable direction.

“The government will have to seriously consider these results, which show that it is the cheaper new cars which are doing the damage – CO2/km for new cars priced less than €20,000 are the highest of any segment.

“The reason for this is pretty straightforward: electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles are bringing down the overall level of emissions in the more expensive segments. Until the price of these vehicle types reduces, we face an uphill battle in bringing down fleet CO2/km any further.

“At the other end of the market, these results show that those with cash to splurge on an expensive car are thinking about the environment; this is one good thing to come out of these findings.”

Registrations in numbers

There were 1,131 new cars registrations for November 2021 compared to 913 in November 2020 (+23.9%) and 761 in November 2019 (+48.6%). Year to date, 104,563 new cars have been registered compared to 87,724 for the same period in 2020 (+19.2%) and 116,885 in 2019 (-10.5%).

The 195 new electric vehicles registered in November compares to 61 in November 2020 – an increase of 219.7% – while year to date, 8,533 new electric cars have been registered in comparison to 3,928 on the same period in 2020 (+117.2%).

Light commercials vehicle (LCV) and heavy goods vehicle (HGV) registrations have increased by 32.6% and 30.04% respectively compared to 2020, and are up on 2019 registrations too.

There were 4,445 used cars imported in November 2021 compared with 8,645 imports in November 2020 and 10,008 in November 2019. Year to date, used imports (59,982) are down 10.7% on 2020 (67,149) and 42.3% on 2019 (103,900).

The 1,825 vehicle registrations in Mayo so far this year represent an increase of 11.76% on last year.

The top five selling car brands in November 2021 were Toyota, Volkswagen, Hyundai, Skoda and Ford, while the top five models last month were Hyundai Tucson, Toyota Corolla, Toyota Yaris, Volkswagen Tiguan and Toyota C-HR.

The market share by engine type so far this year is as follows: diesel 33.50%, petrol 32.20%, hybrid 16.19%, electric 8.16% and plug-in electric hybrid 7.27%.