Coronavirus puts the brakes on an already struggling new car market

COVID-19 has put the brakes on new car registrations, with a 39 per cent year-on-year decline in County Wicklow last month.

Sales are expected to hit the wall in the weeks ahead as the coronavirus lockdown continues.

The new car market was already struggling even before the outbreak, but the rate of decline accelerated in March.

Wicklow new car registrations were down almost 9 per cent in January, and by more than 17 per cent the following month.

However, in March there were just 169 new car registrations in the county, compared with 276 last year.

A total of 1,141 new cars were registered in Co Wicklow in the first quarter of 2020, down 17 per cent from 1,371 in 2019.

In Wicklow, Toyota was the only marque in the top ten to show an increase in sales.

155 Toyota cars have been registered in 2020, an increase of 27 on the first three months of 2019. The Japanese manufacturer had an almost 14 per cent share of the Wicklow market; last year that share was just over 9 per cent.

Of the top ten cars registered in Co Wicklow in the first quarter of 2020, only the Toyota Corolla saw an increase on 2019. More than 40 per cent of the new cars registered were of the jeep or standard SUV variety.

Petrol remains the most popular fuel type in Wicklow, with a 43 per cent share of the market, but registrations of electic and hybrid electric vehicles are up in every category.

Just over one in five new cars registered in County Wicklow are now either electric or hybrid.

Automatic transmissions are also becoming more popular - up eight and a half per cent to 40 per cent of total cars registered in the county.

Meanwhile, grey is still the most favoured colour with local new car buyers, followed by blue, white/ivory, and black in that order.

The fall in registrations of light commercial vehicles was not as great as the drop in the passenger car sector. LCV registrations in Co Wicklow were down from 187 to 167, an 11 per cent decrease in 12 months.

Wicklow’s passenger car figures are better than those in the country as a whole. Nationally, new car registrations for March were down 63% (6,174) when compared to March 2019 (16,687). Used car imports for March (4,656) saw a decrease of 48.1% on March 2019 (8,970). Year to date imports are down 34.9% (17,471) on 2019 (26,832).

Commenting on the figures, Brian Cooke, SIMI Director General, said:

‘ The health of our nation is the overriding priority. The Motor Industry will assist the State in any way we can during this pandemic. While showrooms, service and other activities within the industry are closed, members are available to assist in emergency call-out or delivery services. This will be vital in keeping essential and emergency services moving.

‘Even before the crisis commenced, the new car market was in decline, and this fall has accelerated rapidly in the last fortnight with new car activity down nearly two-thirds on last year. Whatever the duration of this crisis, once we emerge, we will need to see decisive and ambitious action from Government to protect the nearly 50,000 jobs in our sector.’