New car registrations for 2011 totalled 89,900, an increase of 1.6 per cent on last year, according to figures released by the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI).
While the initial months of 2011 were quite strong, sales fell off in the second half of the year when the Government’s scrappage scheme ended in June. Only 375 new cars were registered in December, down from 434 for the same month last year.
Toyota remains the best selling marque, with 13 per cent market share and sales of 11,812, but Volkswagen has overtaken Ford to take second place. The German brand had a 12.5 per cent market share with sales of 11,247, compared to 11.7 per cent for the US firm on sales of 10,511. Ford can take some solace in the fact its Focus remains the best-selling model on the Irish market with sales of 4,242, ahead of the VW Golf and Toyota Avensis.
In a cut-throat battle in the premium segment, Audi, with sales of 3,464, saw off some stiff competition from arch-rivals BMW, which was just 31 new car registrations behind it. Sales for both brands were up significantly, with BMW recording a 30.5 per cent increase on its 2010 sales, and Audi a 19 per cent rise.
Both brands were also significantly ahead of Mercedes, which sold 1,951 new cars last year. Despite the recession, both Audi and BMW also featured in the top ten best selling brands in Ireland last year, in ninth and tenth place respectively.
Diesel remains the favourite fuel for new car buyers, making up 71.2 per cent of sales, followed by 26.6 per cent which are petrol. Just 552 hybrid cars were registered here last year and only 46 electric cars, less than 10 per cent of what was predicted this time last year. At the time Nissan predicted it would sell 500 of its Leaf electric models in 2011. Meanwhile, the ESB had set a target of 2,000 electric cars on the road by the end of 2011 and 6,000 electric cars by the end of 2012.
Of interest to the Government as it discusses the upcoming overhaul of the current emissions-based tax regime is that of the new cars sold last year, over 90 per cent qualified for the two lowest tax brackets.
While there are no official figures for the first two days of sales this year, reports from dealers and distributors suggest strong orders, ahead of last year. Part of this is due to customers pre-ordering their 12-registered cars to avoid the VAT increase that came in on January 1st, along with a significant dip in sales in the early days of January last year due to the snowstorms.
Despite the strong orders for the first few weeks, many are predicting the new car market for 2012 will drop to 80,000 this year, with some even suggesting it might drop to 70,000 new registrations.
New car registrations for 2011
Top marques – total sales in 2011:
Toyota – 11,812 (11,129 in 2010)
Volkswagen – 11,247 (10,391 in 2010)
Ford – 10,511 (11,273 in 2010)
Renault – 8,580 (9,836 in 2010)
Nissan – 6,763 (5,625 in 2010)
Opel – 6,387 (6,614 in 2010)
Skoda – 4,651 (4,937 in 2010)
Hyundai – 4,011 (3,011 in 2010)
Audi – 3,464 (2,909 in 2010)
BMW – 3,433 (2,630 in 2010)