John Manning, the head of Ford Ireland, has said that while the latest COVID lockdown will doubtless cause a major impact to new car sales, he nonetheless feels that it is a 'necessary step.'
Still providing new vehicles
Speaking from Ford's traditional Irish home of Cork, Mr Manning said: "It will be really tough on our business, as new car sales will now be much lower than what they would be for a 'normal' January, we will be limited to providing new vehicles to customers within the guidelines of 'click and collect' services that both our dealers and other dealer brands will be providing. However, these are necessary steps and we fully support the restrictions as the number one priority is to protect people from the spread of the virus."
That statement reached the CompleteCar newsdesk before the further tightening of restrictions on Wednesday, so click and collect is now no longer and option. Thankfully, deliveries are allowed, so car dealers with the capacity to do so can deliver newly-bought cars to consumers' homes.
Everyone needs to get on board
"Everyone needs to get on board and obey the Tier 5 restrictions," said Manning. "This is the only way that we can drive down new cases of the virus and keep our communities safe in the short term. The more people that fully comply, the sooner we will be able to see businesses opening up again.
"As we have seen over the past year, our economy and indeed, the car sales sector, is resilient and can rebound from the restrictions but it requires all of us to play our part. My hope is that February can be as buoyant as a 'traditional' January in the new car sector if the conditions are such that businesses can reopen at the end of January."
Biggest month of the year for car sales
Since 1987, January has been the most important month of the year for new car sales in Ireland, and the first quarter of the year - to the end of March - is traditionally when the bulk of new sales happen. In order to help dealers cope with this latest shutdown, Mr Manning is calling on the Irish Government to continue with the current VAT reduction for businesses.
"With this in mind, we would request of the Government that the current VAT reduction be extended to the end of March. In this very tough environment, we need all the help we can get to boost vehicle sales and the continuation of the VAT reduction would be a great asset in this regard."