Car sales at 48,188 for the first quarter of 2021 are 24.85pc down on the same period in 2019, according to the Society of the Irish Motor Industry, writes Brian Byrne. The motor trade body is using 2019 as a comparison because it is the pre-Covid market. Registrations compared to 2020 are down 3.4pc.
Light Commercial Vehicles at 3,008 are down by 1.1pc on 2019, and up 110.2pc on the first quarter of last year. Used car imports year to date are up 5.46pc (18,420) on 2020 and down 31.35pc on 2019 for the same periods.
So far this year 2,831 new electric cars have been registered in comparison to 1,650 on the same period 2020. Electric Vehicle and Plug-in Hybrids and Hybrids continue to increase their market share, with their combined market share now over 11pc.
Diesel now accounts for 36.58pc, Petrol 32.68pc, Hybrid 17.04pc, Electric 5.87pc and Plug-in Electric Hybrid 5.51pc.
