201 sales so far....

MarkN

he Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI), today released the official 201 new vehicle registration figures for January along with their Motor Industry Review Update 2020.

New cars registrations for January are down 3.5% (31,251) when compared to January 2019 (32,370). Light Commercial vehicles (LCV) are up 2.1% (5,666) compared to January last year (5,548). HGV (Heavy Goods Vehicle) registrations are showing an increase of 8.8% (385) in comparison to January 2019 (354).

Used car imports saw a 26.4% (6,623) decline in January when compared with January 2019 (9,003).

Despite a decline in new car registration an important stat of note was the reduction in CO2 emissions.The average CO2 emissions (108.33g/km) relating to a new car sold in January 2020 reduced by 5.8% on the comparison (115.04g/km) to the same time last year.

Diesel continues to remain the most popular engine type (42.1%) following by petrol (39.6), hybrid (13.6%) which gained a significant increase in market share along with electric (2.9%) and plug-in hybrid (1.8%).

New electric car registrations increased with 898 registered in January 2020, compared to 799 January 2019.

The SIMI Review highlights that the Irish economy will perform strongly in 2020. This should be supportive of consumer spending. However, the Irish consumer is still behaving in a relatively cautious manner. Personal spending power remains under pressure from increasingly expensive big-ticket spending items such as rents, mortgage repayment, health insurance and dwelling insurance. Apart from the economic aspects, there are a number of non-economic factors that are likely to be influential in 2020.

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.”

2020 Total New Vehicle Stats

New Car sales total January (2020) 31,251 v (2019) 32,370 -3.5%
Light Commercial Vehicles sales total January (2020) 5,666 v (2019) 5,548 +2.1%
Heavy Goods Vehicle total sales January (2020) 385 v (2019) 354 +8.8%
Used Car Imports total January (2020) 6,623 v (2019) 9,003 -26.4%
New Electric Vehicles sales total year to date (2020) 898 v (2019) 799 +12.4%
10 Top Selling Car Brands January 2020 were: 1. Toyota 2. Hyundai 3. Volkswagen 4. Skoda 5. Ford 6. Renault 7. Nissan 8. Kia 9. Peugeot 10. Seat
5 Top car model’s year January 2020 were 1. Toyota Corolla 2. Hyundai Tucson 3. Ford Focus 4. Hyundai Kona 5. Renault Clio
Top Selling Car January 2020: Toyota Corolla
Market share by engine type 2020: Diesel 42.1%, Petrol 39.6%, Hybrid 13.6%, Electric 2.9% and Plug-In Hybrid 1.8%.
Table below shows new car registrations by county for January 2020

timsey tiger

Lies, damn lies and statistics. Why are the so called mild hybrids bundled in with hybrids and not with petrol or diesel where they rightly should belong?

Stallingrad

Where are all these Corollas? Out by Dublin airport?

Casati

Stallingrad wrote: »

Where are all these Corollas? Out by Dublin airport?

I see loads of them on the roads, you need to get out more!

Stallingrad

Casati wrote: »

I see loads of them on the roads, you need to get out more!

If getting out means I have to look at Corollas maybe I'll just stay indoors!

bazz26

timsey tiger wrote: »

Lies, damn lies and statistics. Why are the so called mild hybrids bundled in with hybrids and not with petrol or diesel where they rightly should belong?

Maybe you need to revisit the definition of hybrid. Mild or not it's still a hybrid - i.e. ice + battery.

Or do you work for Toyota?

Lantus

Not rushing into another pcp deal likely as people look to stabalise debt.

Hybrid needs a very hard review of how much is being saved. Unless you have a very particular and shortish road journey and hyper efficient drive style there is no massive benefit to hybrid unless car manufacturers can deliver for no additional cost. Kona demand a hefty fee in the thousands which would take a decade to save compared to not having it.

PaulRyan97

bazz26 wrote: »

Maybe you need to revisit the definition of hybrid. Mild or not it's still a hybrid - i.e. ice + battery.

Or do you work for Toyota?

Still, I think most people think of a hybrid car as being able to drive on electric power alone, a mild-hybrid can't.

bazz26

Of course there is some exaggeration in the marketing but people still need to educate themselves properly. Toyota are boasting now about their hybrids being self charging and not needing to be plugged in to counter the availability of plug in hybrids and mild hybrids out there from their rivals. Their unique selling point got muddied in the water which took the shine off it.

You could apply similar logic to tv where we had some tv manufacturers using the term ultra high definition while others used 4k.

timsey tiger

bazz26 wrote: »

Maybe you need to revisit the definition of hybrid. Mild or not it's still a hybrid - i.e. ice + battery.

Or do you work for Toyota?

By that definition the Ford model T was a hybrid.

bazz26

If you expect absolutes in this world then you could be waiting.