July car sales deemed 'disappointing' - SIMI

New car registrations for July described as "disappointing" by industry experts as nationally they were down 17.3% (21,902) when compared to July 2021 (26,477).

According to the latest figures 935 new cars have been sold in County Cavan so far this year up to July 2022, which was down from 993 for the same period last year, which equates to a drop of −5.84%. In Monaghan the drop off was more stark in percentage terms: down from 787 in the period up to July 2021 to 697 for the period to July 2022 (−11.44%).

Used car imports for July (4,206) have seen a decrease of 21.3% on July 2021 (5,344). Year to date imports are down 31.1% (28,316) on 2021 (41,097).

The industry had better news when it came to new electric vehicles. For the month of July 2,738 new electric vehicles were registered compared to 1,895 in July 2021. So far this year 11,182 new electric cars have been registered in comparison to 6,225 on the same period 2021 an increase of 79.6%.

Electric Vehicle, Plug-in Hybrids and Hybrids continue to increase their market share, with a combined market share now of 40.9%. Petrol continues to remain dominant with 29.29%, Diesel accounts for 27.51%, Hybrid 21.23%, Electric 12.84% and Plug-in Electric Hybrid 6.83%.

Commenting on the new vehicle registrations Brian Cooke, Director General SIMI said:

“Disappointingly July new car registrations, our second highest sales’ period, are down 17.3% on July 2021. This means the new car market is now 4% behind year to date and 17% behind pre-COVID 2019.

Mr Cooke said that government policies must support and encourage the change to lower and zero emitting vehicles.

Reducing EV supports or increasing taxation will only act as a barrier to change and add to the cost of living. In this context, SIMI is asking the Government to continue its support for the EV project by extending EV supports at current levels out to 2025 and to resist any VRT increases in Budget 2023 which will only prove counterproductive and prevent us dealing with the legacy fleet in an effective manner that supports a just transition.”