Sales of new electric vehicles last month in Ireland more than doubled compared to the same period in 2021, even though the 12,031 new cars sold last month in total represented an overall 12 per cent decline in registrations compared with February 2021 - according to the latest figures released by the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI).
Total sales
Although new car sales were just over 12 per cent down compared to the 13,698 cars sold in February 2021, a strong January has meant that for the first two months of 2022 total sales fell by just 4.6 per cent, partially thanks to a strong month in January. Those figures are, however, still hugely down on 2019 (the last full year before the Covid-19 pandemic upended the car market) with February sales some 20 per cent lower, and year-to-date figures down almost 22 per cent.
Powertrain options
Electrified vehicles (which include battery-electric, hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles) now make up 44 per cent of the market. Individually, petrol still remains dominant at 27.3 per cent of all new car sales while diesel isn't far behind at 25.9 per cent. Those figures for diesel are in stark contrast to those from the UK where sales of diesel cars have almost totally collapsed, and diesels are now heavily outsold even by battery-electric vehicles. Hybrid, battery-electric and plug-in hybrid cars make up 24.2 per cent, 11.7 per cent and 8 per cent, respectively, of all new car registrations in Ireland so far this year.
Out of all the cars sold in February, 1,620 (or 13.5 per cent) were battery-electric vehicles, marking a 101 per cent increase on February 2021 and an astonishing 400 per cent rise compared to February of 2019.
Ireland's best-selling cars
Mirroring overall sales figures for 2021, Ireland's best-selling car last month was the Hyundai Tucson with Toyota taking top spot among the manufacturers. The best-selling electric car in Ireland is currently the Hyundai Ioniq 5 with 820 units sold so far this year, making it Ireland's eleventh best-selling car at the moment. The related Kia EV6 lags quite a way behind in 22nd place, just ahead of the Volkswagen ID.4 and Nissan Leaf.
Van sales down
Changes to our shopping habits led to a massive rise in van sales during the pandemic; however that has appeared to have levelled off with sales of light commercial vehicles (2,292) down a hefty 31 per cent compared to February 2021.
Imports drop further
In addition to overall new car sales, imports of used cars are also significantly down with the number of imports so far this year (7,848) dropping by 37.6 per cent compared to last year and 56.1 per cent on 2019. This can be attributed to a wide range of factors including changes to VAT and VRT rules in the wake of Brexit, as well as the effect of the global semiconductor shortage on the world car market, which has stifled the supply of new cars, consequently creating scarcity and higher prices in the used car market both in Ireland and abroad.
Where the money is
While most counties saw a year-to-date fall in car sales compared with 2021, four counties saw increases ranging from Meath's 4.6 per cent to Wicklow's 10.8 per cent; Galway and Kildare also saw rises of 5.9 per cent and 10.4 per cent, respectively.
Comment
Commenting on the latest figures, SIMI's Director General, Brian Cooke, said:
"New car sales are 12.2 per cent down on February last year and 4.6 per cent down year to date, while they remain 21.9 per cent behind that of pre-Covid (2019) levels. Despite strong demand for new and used cars, supply continues to be a major issue, with any potential recovery unlikely to happen until the second half of 2022 at the earliest."
"Despite this challenge," he said, "the number of new electric cars continues to grow with registrations doubling for the month of February when compared with the same month last year. There are now over 50,000 electric vehicles [both battery-electric and plug-in hybrid] on Irish roads, and there is increasing consumer interest for these vehicles."
"As highlighted in the recently issued report on reducing light fleet carbon emissions, commissioned by SIMI, it is essential that our charging infrastructure keeps pace with this acceleration in the electrification of the Irish car fleet. In this context ongoing support from Government in the charging network is vital if we are to convince more consumers that an electric vehicle is a viable choice of car for their driving needs."