2021 Motor Industry Report
January 5th, 2022
According to statistics given by the Society of the Irish Motor Industry, new car registrations increased by 19% in 2021.
The total number of new car registrations in 2021 was 104,932. Registrations were down 10.4% from the previous year.
In contrast to 2020, new heavy commercial vehicle registrations increased by 31.5 percent, and by 2.1 percent over 2019.
Imported Used Car registrations totaled 63,617, a decline of 20.4 percent from 2020 and 44.2 percent from 2019.
In comparison to 2020, new light commercial vehicle registrations increased by 32.3 percent in 2021. They were also 13.4 percent greater than the previous year.
In 2021, a total of 8,646 new electric cars were registered, an increase from 4,013 in 2020 and 3,444 in 2019.
Other statistics worth noting indicate that the market shifted in 2021.
Diesel accounted for 33.44 percent of sales, followed by petrol (32.16%), hybrid (16.22%), electric (8.24%), and plug-in hybrid (7.26%).
Despite a 9.8% drop in market share last year, diesel remains the most common engine type in 2021, while hybrid, electric, and plug-in hybrid continue to gain market share.
The hatchback continued to be Ireland's most popular car body type in 2021. Grey is the most popular colour, and it has been so for the past six years.
The issues arising from both Covid-19 and Brexit, according to SIMI Director General Brian Cooke, impacted automobile supply and demand, making 2021 another difficult year for the Irish motor sector.
"While new car sales show a 19% increase on 2020, they remain behind 2019 levels," Mr Cooke said.
"On a positive note, the sale of Electric Vehicles more than doubled in 2021, and with the sale of EVs being underpinned by SEAI Grants, we can expect to see an increasing number of new EVs on Irish roads in 2022. Commercial Vehicles sales also saw a significant improvement in 2021, with light commercial vehicles up over 30% on 2020, reflecting the increase in business confidence as the year progressed."
You can Read To Full SIMI report online.