New Car Registrations In Ireland In July 2020

The Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) has released official new vehicle statistics for the month of July 2020. The data shows that new car registrations in Ireland in July were down 14.1% (21,213) when compared to July 2019 (24,681).

Registrations year to date are also down 29.8% (74,069) on the same period last year (105,439).

July 1st 2020 marked the beginning of the new 202 registration in Ireland, which typically gives dealers a mid year boost in sales. However 2020 has been a challenging year for the Irish motor industry against the backdrop of the Coronavirus pandemic.

The top five bestselling brands so far in 2020 are 1. Volkswagen, 2. Toyota, 3. Hyundai, 4. Skoda and 5. Ford.

The bestselling models this year are 1. Toyota Corolla, 2. Hyundai Tucson, 3. Volkswagen Tiguan, 4. Ford Focus and 5. Hyundai Kona.

The bestselling car in July was the Toyota Corolla.

Diesel is making up 43.63% of the new car market, followed by petrol at 37.52%, hybrid at 12.31%, electric at 3.59% and plug-in hybrid at 2.58%.

Light commercials vehicles (LCV) are down 5.5% (4,438) compared to July last year (4,697) and year to date are down 25% (15,009). HGV (Heavy Goods Vehicle) registrations are up 2.8% (258) in comparison to July 2019 (251). Year to date HGVs are down 28.8% (1,461).

Used car imports for July (8,744) have seen a decrease of 6.8% on July 2019 (9,382). While year to date imports are down 49.6% (31,531) on 2019 (62,508).

Brian Cooke, SIMI Director General, said: “While the July registration period did bring much needed activity back to showrooms, new car sales continue to disappoint, with another monthly fall. This is despite the fact that many quarter 2 sales had been pushed back into the 202 registration plate. COVID-19 on the back of BREXIT and an already falling new car market since 2016, now sees new car sales back to recession levels, down 30% year to date. Looking further into the numbers, new car sales will fall for the fourth consecutive year, with a staggering 44% reduction over the last 4 years. This slowdown is materially undermining the renewal of the national car fleet, which is not only bad for profitability and regional employment, but is also hampering Ireland’s efforts to reduce transport emissions. With the Budget only two months away, we need to see a reduction in VRT, to allow the car market return to normal sustainable levels, which will reduce both the age of the fleet and emissions.”