Mayo new car registrations were up almost 4.5% in 2022
Figures released today by the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) show that new car registrations were up 4.49% in 2022 compared to 2021.
There were 1,933 units registered in the county last year, up from the 1,850 units registered in 2021.
Mayo's share of the overall Irish market last year was 1.84%, up from 1.76% in 2021.
Overall, total new car registrations for 2022 finished at 105,253 – a 0.3% increase on 2021 (104,932) but down 10.1% on 2019 (117,109), which was the last year in which the market was unaffected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
New light commercial vehicle (LCV) registrations in 2022 saw a decrease of 17.7% (23,653) compared to 2021 (28,742) and were down 6.6% on 2019 (25,336).
Meanwhile, new heavy commercial vehicle registrations (HGV) saw a decrease of 8.1% (2,494) in 2022 comparison to 2021 (2,715) and a decrease of 6.2% on 2019 (2,659).
Imported used cars saw 46,490 registrations in 2022, a decrease of 26.9% on 2021 (63,617) and a decrease of 59.2% on 2019 (113,926).
A total of 15,678 new electric cars were registered last year, an increase on the 8,646 registrations seen in 2021 and 3,444 in 2019.
In Mayo, 220 EVs were registered last year compared to 104 in 2021, representing a 111.54% increase in units.
The stats reflect a changing Irish marketplace in 2022. Petrol accounted for 30.16%, diesel 26.77%, hybrid 19.29%, electric 14.90% and plug-in hybrid 6.76%. Petrol remains the most popular engine type for 2022, despite a decline in its market share last year (32.16%), while hybrid, electric and plug-in hybrid continued to gain market share in 2022 and now account for 41% of the market.
Automatic transmissions have taken over in popularity, now accounting for (56.99%) of market share, while manual transmissions have declined (42.95%).
The hatchback continues to remain Ireland’s top selling car body type of 2022, while grey is the top selling colour and has continued to keep that title now for the past seven years.
The five top selling new car brands last year were Toyota, Hyundai, Volkswagen, Kia and Skoda, while the five top selling car models were Hyundai Tucson, Toyota Corolla, Kia Sportage, Toyota C-HR and Volkswagen ID.4
The five top selling electric vehicles were Volkswagen ID.4, Hyundai Ioniq 5, Tesla Model 3, Kia EV6 and Volkswagen ID.3
CHALLENGING YEAR
Commenting on the 2022 figures, Brian Cooke, SIMI director general, said: “Total new car registrations for 2022 were marginally ahead of 2021 but remain 10% behind that of 2019 (pre-Covid levels). Despite the re-opening of the economy and strong economic growth, 2022 was another challenging year for the Irish motor industry, with new car sales as well as commercial vehicles being impacted by supply constraints.
“On a more positive note, the electric car segment continues to grow strongly with 15,678 new electric cars registered in 2022, an increase of 81% on 2021.
“Looking forward to the new 231 registration period, retailers are reporting strong new car orders, which will also attract vital trade-ins for the used car market. Like the last two years, we again are expecting further growth in electric vehicles sales this year, but the extent of this growth will be determined not only by supply but also government support in the EV project, both in terms of extending the current EV grant support and supporting investment in the national charging infrastructure.
“The combination of government support and industry investment is essential if we want to create an active used EV market in as short a timeframe as possible. We have a huge challenge in reaching emission reduction targets over the next decade and this can only be achieved with the right economic and taxation environment that support the sale of new low and zero emissions vehicles.”