New car registrations have sharply declined in comparison to this time last year, and in contrast to pre-Covid sales, new figures show.
The Society of the Irish Motor Industry says that 21,902 new cars were registered for July compared to 26,477 in July 2021 (-17.3%) and 24,681 in July 2019 (-11.3%) pre-Covid levels.
They said that 87,075 new cars were registered for the year to date compared to 90,330 for the same period in 2021 (-3.6%) – but that was 17.4% behind the 105,439 registered in the pre-Covid period in 2019.
The figures show a decline in sales of Light Commercials vehicles (LCV) – down 14.8% compared to July last year, and a decline of 21.4% in the year to date.
Heavy Goods Vehicles were also down 9.4% in the year to date.
A 21% decrease in used car imports for July was also recorded – with a 31% decrease in year to date.
Electric vehicles were the only section to buck the trend with for the month of July and the year to date – with an increase of almost 80% on the same period 2021.
Commenting on the new vehicle registrations Brian Cooke, Director General 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. 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%. 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.’