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The passenger car market in Ireland has risen during the
typically weak month of November. According to data released by the
Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) and published by
beepbeep.ie, registrations were up by 19.1% year on year to 768
units. Leading the market this month was Tesla, which sold 142
units, thanks to the introduction of the Model 3; this was the best
seller, with 136 units sold. Toyota in second place registered 96
units, a gain of 81.1% y/y, while Skoda jumped 150% y/y to sell 70
units. Registrations during the first 11 months of the year are
still down by 6.9% y/y after weaknesses earlier in the year, to
116,887 units. In addition, the light commercial vehicle (LCV)
market increased by 50.4% y/y to 856 units, meaning that its
year-to-date (YTD) registrations are down by just 0.2% y/y to
25,179 units. In the medium and heavy commercial vehicle (MHCV)
market, registrations jumped 51.3% y/y to 121 units, and remained
in positive territory in the YTD with a gain of 2.6% y/y at 2,603
units.
Significance: The positive performance for the
Irish passenger car market during November was down to a number of
factors. Firstly, the base comparison is low, caused by the shift
from NEDC to WLTP a year ago which led to a degree of pull-forward,
as well as difficulties in supplying in certified vehicles by some
OEMs during the period after the 1 September 2018 deadline. In
addition, after the big sales in the age-related number plate
change months of January and July, demand tends to be far weaker
towards the end of the year. Furthermore, the situation would be
far worse had it not been for Tesla pushing its latest model in the
market to customers in this low-volume month. There is also some
evidence that OEMs and dealers are registering some of the worst
emitting vehicles before the end of the year and the start of new
CO2 fleet targets in Europe for 2020 and 2021. Indeed, 72 vehicles
in the 191 to 225g/km CO2 range were sold during the month,
compared to only two in November 2018. Of this, 68 seem to be
Toyota's Landcruiser, making it the second best model this month,
after none were sold in November 2018. In a statement, SIMI
Director General Brian Cooke called 2019 "a disappointing year for
the Irish Motor Industry". He highlighted the continuing impact of
used car imports which are having a dampening impact on new car
sales. The YTD volumes of used vehicles reached 103,902, an
increase of 9.2% y/y, while in November alone 10,011 used vehicles
were registered, an increase of 14.7% y/y. He went on to say that
the focus for the industry has now turned to January and the change
in age-related registration plate, adding, "With generous
incentives for customers to buy a new car across all brands and
across all market segments, members are hopeful for the busy start
to 2020". IHS Markit expects that following a decline in 2019, the
passenger car market will start to recover slowly, while the LCV
category will fall back again.
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The above article is from AutoIntelligence Daily by IHS Markit. Every working day, AutoIntelligence Daily provides about 30 articles focused on automotive news, events and trends. Get a free trial.
