Brexit Hinders 2017 Sales in Ireland

Irish new car sales dropped 10.4% last year to 131,356 units – in line with Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) expectations.

Light commercial vehicle sales fell 14.2% to 24,195 units. Even though sales showed an increase in traditionally slow-selling December, it wasn’t enough to impact the overall trend for the year.

Not helping the new vehicle market, the imported used car market climbed 29.5% to 93,454 units, while LCV imports climbed 21.3%.

SIMI Director General Alan Nolan says 2017 was very challenging for the motor industry, mainly due to the impact of Brexit on Euro/Sterling exchange rates.

“Without Brexit we would have anticipated a reasonable level of growth in the market,” Nolan says in a statement. “But in the aftermath of the U.K. Brexit vote we had modified our projection to 132,000, and that prediction turned out to be very accurate.”

“This number is still better than most recent years and produced reasonable volumes across all vehicle sales sectors.”

Nolan says the industry is optimistic about the coming year.

“For new car buyers, competition in the choice of models, the various incentives and special offers as well as the range of finance options mean that competition is driving value for consumers,” he says.

“While used imports have been increasing strongly, new car imports have fallen by 25% in the last year and by almost 60% over the last three years.”

Volkswagen led new car sales, even though volume was down 10.3% to 13,830 units. Still, the result tops Toyota, which was down 18.3% at 12,684 and Ford, off 16.5% at 12,248.

Hyundai’s Tucson was the year’s best-selling model, despite dropping 33.9% to 4,908 units. It was enough to beat out the VW Golf, which was down 13.0% at 4,321 units and the Nissan Qashqai, off 8.6% at 4,196.

Hatchbacks were the most popular passenger cars among Irish buyers, with sales down 5.1% to 44,584 units; multi-purpose vehicles followed, down 14.4% to 34,280 units,

Diesel-powered cars accounted for 65.2% of sales, down from 70.0% in 2016.

Hybrid gasoline-electric sales soared 72.8% to 4,434 units, while the all-electric segment jumped 58.7% to 672 units.

SIMI Director General Alan Nolan.

Ford’s LCV sales plunged 23.6% to 5,747 units, but it comfortably retained its segment crown.

VW followed, down 6.7% to 4,348 units, ahead of Renault, which was down 9.8% to 3,230 units.

VW’s Caddy was the top-selling LCV, down 21.0% to 1,631 units. Renault’s Trafic Vans edged down 0.6% to 1,495 units for second and then the strength of the Ford lineup took over.

The Transit Van was third, down 19.5% to 1,460 units, ahead of the Ford Transit Connect, down 36.98% to 1.432 units, and the Ford Transit Custom Connect down, 15.4% at 1,366 units.

Diesels accounted for 98% of LCV sales, virtually unchanged from the previous year.

Nolan has said new car sales are likely to decline again in 2018. “Looking towards 2018, industry focus on the EV sector will increase,” he says. Nolan says government incentives will help increase availability of EVs.

“While all vehicle fuel types continue to play an important role in the make up of our car parc, the replacement of older polluting cars remains a priority if we are to meet our climate change targets,” he says.