Motor industry sees 96pc fall in April car registrations

Covid-19 is having an absolutely devastating impact on the Irish Motor Industry with huge drops in sales due to the coronavirus, writes Trish Whelan.

The closure of dealer showrooms has resulted in new car registrations for April down 96pc (344) when compared to April 2019 (8,904).

Retailer’s showrooms have stayed closed since mid-March, and this is impacting heavily on sales. Registrations year to date are down 30.7pc (50,625) on the same period last year (73,030).

The commercial vehicle sector sees Light Commercial vehicles (LCVs) down 87.3pc (229) compared to April last year (1,799) and year to date are down 25.3pc (9,603). Registrations of Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) are down 67.8pc (98) in comparison to April 2019 (304). Year to date HGVs are down 9.9pc (1,070).

Used car imports for April (199) have seen a decrease of 97.8pc on April 2019 (8,887). Year to date imports are down 50.5pc (17,669) on 2019 (35,719).

The 5 top selling car brands for 2020 were: 1. Toyota, 2. Volkswagen, 3. Hyundai, 4. Skoda, 5. Ford.

The top car models year to date were: 1. Toyota Corolla (pictured above), 2. Hyundai Tucson, 3. Volkswagen Tiguan, 4. Ford Focus, 5. Skoda Octavia.

Diesel has accounted for 43.9pc of sales, Petrol 38.05pc, Hybrid 12.33pc, Electric 3.37pc and Plug-In Hybrid 2.06pc.

Brian Cooke, SIMI Director General, says: “SIMI Members have during the course of the lockdown have been available to assist in emergency and essential call outs. We continue to play our part in keeping vital goods and services moving. However, the registration numbers underline the lack of activity in new vehicle sales and this is replicated for used cars and servicing.”

He added that, while the short-term outlook for the Irish economy is bleak, once the health situation allow, the Motor Industry is ready to get back to work. “Members have used this downtime to implement measures, in accordance with both Industry and State guidelines, that will protect both their employees and customers against the spread of Covid-19. The size of dealerships and the average footfall, for both sales and servicing, lends itself to social distancing. While sanitisation measures being put in place for both premises and vehicles, means that safety and protection are at the top of the agenda.”

Mr Cooke said with the July registration period approaching, the Motor Industry will be well placed to help start activity in the Irish economy. This, he believes has ‘the potential to protect the nearly 50,000 people in employment in the sector, increasing Government Revenues, improving the safety of the cars on Irish roads, while also improving Ireland’s environmental performance by replacing old cars with new or newer cars'.

“In this context, continuation of the current supports and cash flow benefits from Revenue will be important, while additional measures such as the cancelling of rates bills, and reductions in VAT and VRT would be very helpful as would the immediate re-opening of NCT and commercial vehicle test centres.”

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