New figures from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry show that new car registrations continued to slow down in July on the back of a near 25% fall in new electric cars registered.
The SIMI figures show that new car registrations for July were down 5.9% to 25,726 from 27,336 the same time last year.
SIMI said that registrations so far this year are down 0.3% to 104,652 from 104,938 the same time last year.
3,147 new electric cars were registered in July, 24.7% lower than the 4,117 registrations in July of last year.
So far this year, 13,885 new electric cars have been registered, which marks a drop of 25% compared to the same time in 2023 when 18,484 electric cars were registered.
Meanwhile, imported used cars saw a 32.2% rise in July with a total of 5,828 such cars registered compared to 4,408 the same time last year. Year to date imports are up 26.4% to 37,199 on 2023’s 29,433 cars.
Today’s figures show that petrol cars lead the new car market at 31.95%, followed by diesel at 22.90%, then hybrid (petrol electric) at 20.72%, electric at 13.27%, and plug-in electric hybrid at 9.62%.
SIMI’s figures show that the five top selling new car brands were Toyota, Volkswagen, Skoda, Hyundai and Kia.
The five top new car models were the Hyundai Tucson, the Skoda Octavia, the Kia Sportage, the Toyota RAV 4 and the Toyota Yaris Cross.
The top selling car in July was the Hyundai Tucson, while the top selling electric car was the Volkswagen ID4.
Brian Cooke, SIMI Director General, said that July has continued the trend of recent months with a decline in new car sales and year to date new car registrations are now marginally behind the first seven months of last year.
“The key headline for July continues to be the drop in Electric Vehicle (EV) registrations, which are down by 25% year to date. EV sales are now back to 2022 levels,” Mr Cooke said.
He noted that last year saw several EV incentives reduced, including the SEAI Purchase and home charger grants, while Benefit-In-Kind (BIK) for company EVs is schedule to increase significantly in 2025.
“We are at a critical juncture on the journey to Zero Emission Vehicles, but we need decisive actions in the Budget to arrest this slide and to reignite Ireland’s EV momentum,” Brian Cooke said.
“This can be done by extending the BIK incentive at current levels, and increasing the SEAI Grants back to 2022 levels until the EV market recovers. Budget 2025 is a real chance for Government to signal their commitment to fleet electrification and is an opportunity they should grasp,” he added.
Article Source – July new car registrations slow down by 5.9% as EV sales drop – SIMI – RTE