Registrations of new cars in Ireland fell in June, but are still up slightly on the year as a whole. 2,154 new cars were registered in June 2022, compared to 2,762 in June 2021 - a fall of 22 per cent. However, total sales for the year so far - 65,176 - are up by 2.1 per cent compared to this time last year when 63,853 new cars had been registered. Mind you, that figure is still 19 per cent down on pre-covid 2019 sales.
July will be very busy
Commenting on the new vehicle registrations Brian Cooke, Director General SIMI said: "New car registrations for the first half of the year are marginally ahead (2.1 per cent) of last year but remain 19.3 per cent behind that of 2019 (pre-covid levels). The continuing surge in Electric Vehicle sales, up 97 per cent for the first half of the year, continues to be the one positive aspect of the new car market. While overall new car registrations for June are down 22 per cent on the same month last year, the Industry is as ever optimistic that the new 222 registration period, which begins today, will help boost sales and attract vital trade-ins for the used car market. Feedback from retailers is that July will be very busy, and consumers are advised to shop around for the best deals on new and used cars.
"Despite pent-up demand following two years of interrupted business, new car sales continue to drag due to supply constraints. While the supply issues will start to unwind in the short term, we now have the spectre of inflation and global political uncertainty. These have the potential to dampen new car demand at this critical juncture in reducing transport emissions. In this environment, it is vital that Government continues to incentivise electric vehicles by extending current supports, and also refrain from any further taxation increases which will only suppress demand hampering our ability to decarbonise the national fleet."
Falling van sales
Light commercial sales have fallen by 23.3 per cent compared to last year, which is a worrying trend as it speaks of potential weaknesses in the underlying economy.
Used imports are also continuing to fall, and are down by 32.6 per cent on 2021's figures. So far this year, only 24,112 used cars have been imported.
Electric car sales actually fell somewhat in June compared to June 2021. Just 187 new EVs were registered last month, compared to 390 in June 2021. That is likely a result of production bottlenecks, rather than any cooling of our national EV ardour. So far this year 8,444 new electric cars have been registered in comparison to 4,330 in the same period in 2021.
Toyota is top dog
Toyota continues to hold the top-selling brand spot, followed by Hyundai, Volkswagen, Kia, and Skoda. The Hyundai Tucson is once again the best-selling individual model, followed by the Toyota Corolla, Toyota C-HR, Toyota RAV4, and Toyota Yaris. The Hyundai Tucson was also the best-selling car in June.
So far this year, the Volkswagen ID.4 is the best-selling electric car, narrowly beating the Hyundai Ioniq 5 to the top spot. In third place is the Kia EV6, followed by the Nissan Leaf and Tesla Model 3. Electric Vehicles, Plug-in Hybrids and Hybrids continue to increase their market share, with a combined market share now of 42.49 per cent. Petrol continues to remain dominant with 28.22 per cent, Diesel accounts for 26.87 per cent, Hybrid 22.50 per cent, Electric 12.96 per cent and Plug-in Electric Hybrid 7.03 per cent.