January 211 sees new car registrations down 17.8%

The Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI), recently released the official 211 new vehicle registration figures for January.

New cars registrations for January are down 17.8% (25,191) when compared to January 2020 (30,650). Light Commercial vehicles (LCV) are down 10.9% (5,033) compared to January last year (5,647).

HGV (Heavy Goods Vehicle) registrations also showing a decrease of 4.5% (340) in comparison to January 2020 (356).

Used car imports saw a 3.1% (6,824) increase in January when compared with January 2020 (6,622).

Despite a decline in market share, Diesel continues to remain the most popular engine type in 2021 (35.85%), followed by petrol (34.70%), while hybrid (19.12%) gained a significant increase, along with growth of plug-in hybrid (4.23%) and electric (3.89%) market share.

New electric car registrations increased with 980 registered in January 2021, compared to 891 January 2020.

GREEN GROWTH

Commenting on the new vehicle registrations figures Tom Cullen SIMI Deputy Director General said: “New car registrations are down 17% on January 2020, the fifth consecutive January that new car sales have fallen, although this year’s registrations must be seen in the context of the pandemic and associated restrictions. Strong pre-orders coming into the New Year and the ability of the industry to provide both on-line shopping and a click and deliver service, has mitigated somewhat against the full impact of the pandemic in January.

“On a positive note, despite the fall in new cars sales both Electric Vehicles and PHEVS are ahead of last January, and with more models and supply coming on stream as the year progresses, it is anticipated that this growth will continue.

“It is vital for society and business that the current restrictions succeed in driving down the incidence of Covid and with the delivery of Covid vaccines, we hope that business can return to more normal levels once the health situation allows. In the meantime, to protect long term employment and local businesses, it is essential that the current Government business and employee supports remain in place.”