New car sales increased for a second consecutive month in September, writes Stephen Healy, head of Motor at Bank of Ireland.
“Government can play a critical part here by adding electric vehicles to its own fleets and turning them quickly back into the used car market”
September lookback
In the month of September, new passenger car (PC) sales increased 42.5% year-on-year (y-o-y) to 6,340 units, Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV) sales increased 6.5% y-o-y to 1,756 units and used imports declined 12.5% y-o-y to 4,334 units.
Passenger car registrations
In the first 9 months of 2022, new passenger car registrations increased +0.7% year on year to 101,492 units. Toyota holds the #1 position with 15.4% market share, followed by Hyundai with 12.3% in #2, Volkswagen with 11.0% in #3, Kia with 7.6% in #4 and Skoda with 7.3% in #5.
Light commercial vehicle registrations
In the first 9 months of 2022, new light commercial vehicle registrations declined 20.5% year on year to 20,974 units. Ford holds the #1 position with 24.3% market share, followed by Volkswagen with 12.9% in #2, Toyota with 12.9% in #3, Opel with 9.9% in #4 and Renault with 8.7% in #5.
Used imports YTD
Registrations of used imports declined 26.8% year on year to 37,418 units in the first nine months of this year.
Data Source: Society of Irish Motor Industry (SIMI). Data as at 30/09/2022
Market News
New car sales increased for a second month in a row in September. Following a dip in sales in July new car sales rose by 36% year on year in the month of August and by 43% year on year in the month of September.
This brings the year to date position to circa +1%.
The sector has been plagued by supply shortages all year. The last two months, however, have seen improved volumes of new vehicles arriving to Irish shores and being registered.
Data Source: Society of Irish Motor Industry (SIMI). Data as at 30/09/2022
For comparison, new car sales in August this year were 60% higher than August 2019 (pre-pandemic). Similarly, in September new car sales were 85% higher than September 2019.
This is a positive trend, however, volumes at this time of the year are lower than in the first half. This is due to seasonality of the new car sales.
In fact, while new car sales in Q3 typically account for c. 28% of annual sales, new car sales in Q4 typically account for about 2% of the market.
Data Source: Society of Irish Motor Industry (SIMI). Data as at 30/09/2022
Budget 2023
In advance of the Budget, the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) lobbied government for no Vehicle Registration Tax (VRT) increases next year and to maintain electric vehicle supports out to 2025. SIMI also lobbied for creation of a vibrant used electric vehicle market.
Government can play a critical part here by adding electric vehicles to its own fleets and turning them quickly back into the used car market. This coupled with incentivising businesses to adopt electric vehicles, through a variety of supports, will help make greater volumes of used electric vehicles available in the years ahead.
In Budget 2023, the Government announced planned investment of €110m in 2023 to support continuation of battery electric vehicle grants (including taxis), home charging point grants and the toll incentive scheme.
The grant for battery electric vehicles will be available in H1 2023 and will begin to taper in H2 2023. Details of this tapering was not provided in the Budget, and the sector awaits clarification of this point. VRT relief for battery electric vehicles will continue to the end of 2023, BIK relief continues to the end of 2025 with the amount tapering from 2023 to 2025.
Overall VRT rates for new car and van purchases will remain unchanged for 2023. This has been welcomed by the sector.
