Sales of new cars in Ireland - well, registrations of new cars, if we're being strict with our terminology - fell by four per cent in November compared to November 2022. However, 2023 has been a generally healthy one for the Irish car trade, with sales increasing overall by 15 per cent and with the top ten sales list dominated by more expensive, hence more profitable, SUV models.
Calling the top five
Being as December's sales generally make little difference to the overall figures, we can probably give the sales crown to the Hyundai Tucson once again, which beat its close cousin, the Kia Sportage, into second place for the year overall, followed by the Toyota Corolla, Toyota Yaris Cross, and Volkswagen ID.4.
Regarding brands, Toyota came out on top, followed by Volkswagen, Hyundai, Skoda, and Kia. There was a late surge of sales for Tesla's Model Y - currently the best-selling car overall in the world, let's not forget - as often happens in November thanks to Tesla's own particular delivery schedule. The Model Y was Ireland's best-selling car for November.
Electric car sales increased once again this year, and while we will have to wait till the end of December for the final, final figures the needle isn't likely to budge much from the 18.64 per cent market share for EVs. That's compared to 30.1 per cent for petrol, 22.1 per cent for diesel, 18.5 per cent for hybrids, and 8.2 for plug-in hybrids.
ID.4 the best-selling EV
Volkswagen kept the best-selling EV title, with the ID.4 edging out the Model Y year to date by 800 units, followed by the Hyundai Ioniq 5, the Skoda Enyaq, and the MG 4. While electric car sales are still increasing, they are definitely tailing off somewhat (something that's also happening in the UK and in the US). Sales of EVs rose by 45 per cent in 2023, which sounds like a lot - and is - but it's nothing compared to the three-digit percentage increases (from a much lower base, of course) that we saw from 2020 to 2021 and 2021 to 2022. As the head of Mercedes-Benz cars in Ireland, Ciaran Allen, said to CompleteCar this week: "I think during the period of Covid and then the chip shortage, many people mistook short supply for high demand."
In November, according to the secretary general of the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) Brian Cooke, "The number of electric cars sold in the month are double that of Diesel and Petrol cars. Private consumer sales dominate the EV market accounting for 75 per cent of EV sales year to date, underlining the importance of continued incentives and supports into 2024." That said, the sudden arrival into the market of a glut of Tesla Model Ys will have distorted that November market somewhat.
Imports rise slightly
The number of used cars imported this year actually rose slightly, by 4.4 per cent, to 47,308 cars so far, but that still represents a massive 54 per cent drop from the last 'normal' year of 2019. That compares to 121,430 new cars registered so far this year. Unless we all go wild in December, that total probably won't change much.
Light Commercial vehicles (LCV) are down 12.7 per cent (764 vans) compared to November last year (875), and year to date are up 27.0 per cent (29,408). HGV (Heavy Goods Vehicle) registrations are showing a decrease for November of 10.2 per cent (106) in comparison to November 2022 (118). Year to date, HGVs are up 20.1 per cent (2,605).
"New car registrations for the month of November decreased by four per cent on the same month last year, while year to date the new car market remains 15 per cent ahead of 2022 with 121,430 cars registered this year," said Cooke. "Sales of commercials both Light (LCV) and Heavy Good Vehicles (HGVs), continue to remain subdued in November, however they are ahead year to date."
With sales in December generally not counting for much, Ireland's motor trade will now be turning its eyes, hopes, and efforts to the 241 registration period in January, all the while worrying about the 'technical recession' that seems to be currently dogging the economy, not to mention the potential for further social and economic upheaval in 2024.