Car registrations in Ireland continued to fall in January 2020, albeit at a slightly slower rate than we saw them fall last year. 2019 closed out with registrations down 6.8 per cent overall, and January 2020 has finished 3.46 per cent down on the same month last year. In terms of raw registration data, that means 31,251 new cars were registered in January this year, compared to 32,370 this time last year.
Key new models still to be launched
While that's perhaps not a disastrous figure, many in the industry see it as a major disappointment, as expectations had been that we might see an increase in registrations in the first month of 2020, being as it's the most important sales period of the year. Then again, with major new models such as the Volkswagen Golf 8, Opel Corsa, Ford Puma, and Skoda Octavia still to come, perhaps that's a partial explanation as to why registrations have been low again. Equally, it could be that the full impact of the new NOx tax, meant to dissuade people from importing older diesel-engined cars from the UK, has yet to be felt.
Imports fall by 26 per cent
That said, imports were significantly down on the same period last year. 6,623 used cars were imported in January, compared to 9,003 in January last year. That's a massive 26.44 per cent fall in the number of imported cars, and being as it's reckoned that around a quarter of all imported cars last year were older diesel models, that number stacks up rather nicely with the expectations for the NOx tax.
Toyota is the top-selling brand for January 2020, posting a massive 53.325 per cent increase over its January 2019 figures (strange to think that this time last year Toyota had yet to launch the new Corolla, RAV4, and Camry). Hyundai is in second place, followed by Volkswagen, Skoda, and Ford. Rounding out the top ten are Renault, Nissan, Kia, Peugeot, and SEAT.
Toyota the best selling make and model
In terms of models, the Toyota Corolla remains the best-selling car in the country (1,631 were sold in January, a ridiculous 429 per cent increase over January 2019), followed by the Hyundai Tucson. The Ford Focus is in third place, followed by the Hyundai Kona, the Renault Clio, the Nissan Qashqai, the Toyota Yaris, the Volkswagen Tiguan, the Toyota C-HR, and in tenth place, the Skoda Octavia.
Diesel remains the best-selling engine type, with 42 per cent of buyers plumping for the black pump. Petrol is in second place on 39 per cent, while hybrids have seen a 92 per cent increase on January 2019, with 13.5 per cent of buyers going for a half-and-half. Plug-in hybrid registrations are also up significantly (driven by such models as the BMW 330e and the Kia Niro) climbing by 86 per cent in January to make up 1.8 per cent of the market. Electric car registrations are also up, albeit by a much smaller margin than we've seen of late. EV registrations grew by 12.39 per cent in January, to claim 2.87 per cent of the market.
Commenting on the new vehicle registrations figures Brian Cooke, SIMI Director General said: "January is the most important selling month for new cars. In this regard, it is very disappointing to see a reduction in new car sales compared to January last year, the fourth consecutive year in which there has been a fall. On a more positive note, there has been a reduction of nearly 6% in the average CO2 emissions from new cars registered in January, underlining the Industry's commitment to reducing emissions from new cars. The Industry is fully committed to further significant reductions in emissions in the years ahead. New cars ultimately displace the oldest most environmentally damaging cars in the National Fleet and in order for Ireland to benefit fully from these technology improvements the new car market needs to be much stronger than it currently is and Government policy should support this. January also saw a significant decline in used imports, and while it may be too early to tell, the introduction of the NOx charge on January 1st appears to have reduced demand for older used imports."
Jim Power, Economist and author of the SIMI Report said: "The economic fundamentals will in theory be supportive of new car registrations in 2020, but as has been the case over the past 3 years, used imports and consumer caution will likely have an impact. Other factors that could undermine the market is deep uncertainty and confusion about the environmental implications of different types of cars. These uncertainties are not helping new car sales. For 2020, 111,245 new car registrations are projected, which would represent a decline of 5% on the 2019 outturn."