Total new car sales in July came to 21,213, bringing registrations for the year to date to 74,069, down from 105,439 this time last year.
July is the second most important month for new car sales, after January. With sales down over 96 per cent in April and 72.5 per cent in May due to Covid-19 lockdown restrictions, it had been feared that economic uncertainty would drive motorists away from major financial outlays like cars. In that light there is a sense of relief within the motor trade at the July sales figures.
Brian Cooke, SIMI director general said: “While the July registration period did bring much needed activity back to showrooms, new car sales continue to disappoint, with another monthly fall. This is despite the fact that many [second quarter] sales had been pushed back into the 202 registration plate. COVID-19 on the back of Brexit and an already falling new car market since 2016, now sees new car sales back to recession levels, down 30% year to date.
"Looking further into the numbers, new car sales will fall for the fourth consecutive year, with a staggering 44% reduction over the last four years. This slowdown is materially undermining the renewal of the national car fleet, which is not only bad for profitability and regional employment, but is also hampering Ireland’s efforts to reduce transport emissions. With the Budget only two months away, we need to see a reduction in VRT, to allow the car market return to normal sustainable levels, which will reduce both the age of the fleet and emissions.”
July sales
A July sales surge by Volkswagen saw it overtake rival Toyota to take the top spot with 8,879 registrations so far this year. So far this year Toyota is in second place with 8,876 sales, Hyundai is in third with 7,105, Skoda is fourth with 6,310 and Ford in fifth place with 5,574. The best-selling model remains Toyota’s Corolla with 3,385 registrations, ahead of the Hyundai Tucson on 2,696 and VW Tiguan on 2,552.
Only two brands have recorded sales growth this year: Tesla and Porsche. Elon Musk’s all-electric car brand has seen sales rise from 60 this time last year to 477 for the year to date. Porsche, which opened a new sale outlet in the Republic, saw sales rise from 54 to 89 in the same period.
For the new 202 registrations, Ford is the only top-10 mainstream brand to record sales growth in July, up 14.5 per cent, but premium brands BMW, Land Rover and Mercedes-Benz also recorded sales growth compared to the same month last year.
One major issue for the Irish motor trade is the collapse in the car rental market. Registrations of new hire drive cars represented 18 per cent of new car sales figures: so far this year they account for less than 4 per cent. Last July 3,854 new cars were registered as hire drives. Last month that fell to just 64.
Electric interest
The growth in hybrid and all-electric car sales continues, with 771 new electric cars registered last month, up over 5 per cent on the same month last year, while plug-in hybrids sales hit 749 cars, compared to 255 in July last year.
All-electric cars now account for 3.6 per cent of all new car sales, regular hybrids 12.3 per cent and plug-in hybrids 2.6 per cent. Diesel is still the best-selling power source for new cars, however, accounting for 44 per cent of new sales so far this year, while petrol accounts for 37.5 per cent.
