You know that thing where shops start putting Christmas stuff on the shelves even though we've not had Halloween yet? Yeah, that's what Toyota Ireland is doing - reminding us that January is already on the way, with the announcement of its 221-plate special offers.
Deposit contributions
In fairness, these are some pretty tempting offers, starting with the carrot of a trade-in booster of up to €3,500 if you're chopping in your old car for a new Toyota.
There's also the offer of a €2,500 deposit contribution, and Toyota will offer PCP finance rates from as low as 3.9 per cent. Those are the carrots, now the stick - Toyota Ireland is pointing out that because of the global microchip shortage, it's likely that "221 demand is ultimately expected to exceed supply. As such, Toyota is urging interested parties to contact their local dealer and come in early to guarantee delivery for Q1."
Sales of hybrid cars have also grown significantly (although Hyundai's hybrid-engined Tucson must take at least some of the credit for that) so Toyota Ireland reckons that such interest all by its lonesome could cause some wait-times for new models.
Cheaper VRT than some rivals
However, there is the potential - according to Toyota Ireland - for buyers to end up spending less on their new hybrid Toyota than they would on a rival petrol or diesel product. According to Toyota Ireland; "Toyota's range also has the lowest CO2 output of all mass market car brands, and as such, is comparatively least affected by the forthcoming VRT increases in Budget 2022, making them more competitively priced than ever. A customer purchasing a new C-HR hybrid will pay 4.75 per cent lower VRT compared to the average petrol and diesel equivalents, while Ireland's best-selling hybrid SUV, the RAV4 hybrid, will have a 2.5 per cent lower VRT cost versus other conventional SUV models. The Yaris hybrid, the 2021 Car of the Year, will see no VRT increase for 2022."
Lower NOX emissions
Commenting on the 221 offers, Michael Gaynor, Toyota Ireland's marketing director said: "For 2022 we really want to incentivise drivers who are currently in diesel powered vehicles to make the switch to hybrid electric and have made a number of trade-in boosters and great finance offers available for 221. In addition to lower running costs and strong used car resale values, self-charging hybrids have many environmental and health benefits compared to diesel, such as 90 per cent less NOx, which can be the cause of serious human respiratory issues. Because there is an exceptionally high level of demand for hybrid, especially for the new RAV4 Plug-in hybrid and Yaris Cross SUV hybrid, we recommend that interested customers get in touch with their local Toyota dealer as early as possible to avoid disappointment."