Registrations of hybrid and electric cars launched ahead of diesel power for the first time since the Green Party-led move to CO2-based motor tax in 2009. According to the January registration figures released by the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI), 46 per cent of all cars sold last month had battery power of some sort.
Diesel slumps to 22 per cent
The breakdown goes like this - diesel's share of the market has dramatically slumped from 35 per cent of all registrations this time last year to just 22 per cent in January 2022. Remember that diesel-engined cars once accounted for a full 75 per cent of all new Irish car sales, just before the breaking of the diesel emissions scandal.
Petrol-engined choices accounted for 28 per cent of registrations, but the combined mix of hybrid (26.5 per cent), plug-in hybrid (8.4 per cent) and fully electric (10.8 per cent) now means that 'electrified' vehicles hold a dominant position in the Irish car market. New electric car registrations reached their highest month on record with 2,714 registered in January 2022 (+178 per cent), compared to 977 January 2021.
Chip shortage hurting sales
25,093 new cars were sold in January, which represents a small fall of 0.2 per cent compared to January 2021. That might look like solid enough business, but one has to remember that in January 2021, dealerships were largely closed, and limited to delivery sales only as the second wave of the Covid pandemic took hold. Given the pent-up demand for new cars, a fall of 0.2 per cent must be seen as something of a failure for the Irish motor trade, and much of that is driven by the continuing shortage of supplies of semiconductor chips, which is still hampering the global car industry.
Commenting on the new vehicle registrations, SIMI Director General, Brian Cooke, said: "New car registrations in January are in line with last year. Sales are still 22% behind pre-pandemic levels (2019), largely due to supply chain issues arising from various lock-downs. With retailers reporting strong order banks and with expected improvements in supply as the year progresses, this should lead to both an improving new car market and a more even spread of sales in 2022. Also the trade-ins against January new car sales will have increased supply of used car stock, which means greater variety and volume for interested used car buyers in the weeks ahead."
Toyota is continuing its run as the best-selling brand in the country, buoyed by those high hybrid sales. Steve Tormey, CEO of Toyota Ireland said, "January is typically the month that sets the tone for the full year of motor vehicle sales, so we're delighted to see Irish drivers continue to build on the gains made last year and make a concerted effort to move away from more polluting cars like diesels into lower emission, electrified options. The Irish government's vehicle tax strategy is clearly working, and together with the growing consumer awareness of the urgent climate issues we are facing, Irish drivers are acting with the future firmly in mind. My hope is that with the efficiency and low emission advancements inherent in the forthcoming next generation of hybrid electric cars, plus our introduction of battery electric cars like the bZ4X this year, Toyota will continue to drive the change to low and zero emissions through the provision of a wide range of affordable, reliable and desirable models."
Hyundai's hot streak
Hyundai, too, is continuing a hot-streak, with the Tucson SUV (also available as a hybrid) topping the model sales charts, while the Ioniq 5 electric car is the best-selling EV for January.
Stephen Gleeson Hyundai Ireland's Managing Director said: "We are delighted with our January figures, the Tucson being Irelands best-selling car is a tremendous accolade. We believe the success of the Tucson comes not just from its great design but also from our dealers being able to offer genuine advice to consumers as to what is the right engine for their needs given that we sell PHEV, Diesel and Hybrid in the Tucson. Hyundai now has Irelands bestselling PHEV, electric and diesel cars and have recorded a market share increase from 10.8 per cent to 14.5 per cent year on year in January 2022. Most importantly Hyundai has achieved the highest year on year increase in sales at 33.8 per cent of Irelands top ten car brands."
Behind Toyota in the top-ten best-selling brands' list were Hyundai, Volkswagen, Skoda, Kia, Nissan, Ford, Renault, Peugeot, and BMW - that's BMW's first visit to the top ten list for some time, and Ford's worst sales performance in more than a decade, hamstrung by continuing shortages of Fiesta and Focus production.
Behind the Tucson in the top-ten selling models list were the Toyota Corolla, Toyota RAV4, Toyota C-HR, Toyota Yaris, Nissan Qashqai, Hyundai Kona, Toyota Yaris Cross, Skoda Octavia, and Ford Puma. That will surely be seen as something of a disappointment by Nissan, which would have hoped to challenge the likes of the Tucson and RAV4 with the new Qashqai.
Strong month for Renault Group
January was a strong month for the Renault Group too, taking third place behind Toyota and Hyundai with 8.2 per cent of all sales in Ireland. While there were no Renault-branded cars inside the top ten best-sellers, the combination of the company's sales alongside those of its subsidiary, Dacia, ensured its podium finish in January.
Renault's best-selling model in Ireland in January was the Arkana crossover-coupe followed very closely by the Clio supermini. Those two positions netted the company fourth place in the C-SUV segment for the Arkana and a second-place position in the B-hatch segment for the Clio. The Renault Group leads the B-hatch segment with the combined 897 sales of the Clio and the Dacia Sandero. Dacia, as a whole, took 3.3 per cent of all sales in Ireland in January.
According to Patrick Magee, Renault Ireland's Country Operations Director:
"It's been a tough few years for the industry with the ongoing pandemic and supply issues, but we are really delighted the Group and our network have achieved podium status for overall car sales last month and that our newest models launched just last year including the all-new Dacia Sandero, all-new Dacia Stepway and all-new Arkana have contributed to this great result. Coming in at 8.2 per cent market share is a great achievement for the Renault Group and we have some really exciting new models on the way to further boost the great choice of the Renault and Dacia ranges available to the Irish consumer."
New Renault Group cars set to hit Irish roads in the coming year include the seven-seat Dacia Jogger as well as the electric Renault Megane E-Tech Electric.
Elsewhere in the list, automatic transmission sales have now overtaken the sales of cars with manual gearboxes (57.1 per cent versus 42.8 per cent) while sales of vans and light commercials were up fractionally on January 2021, but down on pre-pandemic figures from January 2019.
Imports of used cars fell significantly, falling by 40 per cent compared to January last year to 4,041 imports.