As Ireland’s motor industry braces for the impact (or otherwise) of Budget 2025, sales (technically registrations, which are not quite the same thing) of new cars continued to fall in September.
Registrations fell by 10.3 per cent
New car registrations, according to the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI), fell by 10.3 per cent in September compared to September 2023. That means that for the year to date, new car registrations are 1.4 per cent behind where they were this time last year.
That may be considered a relatively status quo result for the car industry as a whole, but the more worrying trend is that electric car sales continue to fall, and have fallen for the eighth month in succession. In September, barely 1,000 new EVs were registered, a 30.8 per cent fall compared to the same month last year. It means that for 2024 as a whole, electric car sales have fallen by 25.7 per cent.
Final plea
As we await (at the time of writing) the full story of Budget 2025 and how it might affect the motor industry in Ireland, the secretary general of SIMI, Brian Cooke, made a final plea for the Government to take notice of what’s happening to electric car sales.
“New car registrations in September saw a decrease of 10.3 per cent when compared to the same month last year. Year-to-date registrations are also behind last year by 1.4 per cent. The new electric vehicle segment has experienced another month of decline in registrations, marking the eighth consecutive month of this trend. With Budget 2025 now only hours away, it is vital that we see positive measures from Government to support the EV project and help reverse this drop in demand for EVs. Reinstating and extending EV supports, as well as investing in a reliable charging infrastructure, can help regain lost momentum in the electric vehicle project. The Industry remains committed to supporting the transition to electrification,” said Cooke.
Vans doing well
There was better news in the light commercial vehicles, or vans if you prefer, market where registrations increased by 6.6 per cent in September, and are up by 9.1 per cent for the year to date - with van sales generally seen as an indicator of underlying economic activity, that’s good news.
Imports of used cars - which have switched from being mostly from the UK to now being mostly from Japan - have increased again in September - by 18.4 per cent - and by 24.5 per cent for the year to date.
In terms of the types of cars we’re buying, petrol-powered still holds the top position in the market, at 30.99 per cent, followed by diesel engines at 22.98 per cent, hybrids at 21.0 per cent, electric cars at 13.76 per cent, and plug-in hybrids at 9.71 per cent.
Toyota on top
Toyota continues to hold the top spot in terms of the best-selling car brands, followed by Volkswagen, Skoda, Hyundai, and Kia. The Hyundai Tucson continues its stranglehold on the Irish car market as the best-selling individual model, followed by the Skoda Octavia, the Kia Sportage, the Toyota RAV4, and the Toyota Yaris Cross.
Volkswagen is the best-selling brand for electric car sales, even in its diminished state. It is followed by Tesla, Hyundai, Kia, and BYD. The best-selling EV is the Volkswagen ID.4, followed by the Tesla Model 3, Tesla Model Y, Hyundai Kona, and Kia EV6.
The best-selling car in September was the Skoda Kodiaq, while the best-selling EV was the Tesla Model 3.