Surge in electric and hybrid car sales
The Covid-19 pandemic is still having a profound impact on car sales in Ireland, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) has revealed.
Ireland’s car sales have seen a significant recovery from the immediate impact of the initial lockdown in May last year.
However, the number of vehicles licensed last month remains lower than pre-Covid figures for May 2019.
Last month, the number of new cars licensed rose by 5,847 to 7,337 compared with May 2020. Although, this still represents a 20 per cent decrease from those cars licensed in May 2019.
Additionally, the number of imported private cars licensed is still 2,636 vehicles lower in May 2021 than in May 2019.
In the first five months of 2021, a total of 54,843 new private cars were licensed, showing an increase of 16.7 per cent compared with the same time last year.
Significantly, the number of used imported private cars licensed increased by 49 per cent compared with the same time last year.
What about electric and hybrid cars?
This new research indicates the increasing popularity of new electric and hybrid cars.
In the first five months of 2020, only 19 per cent of new cars were electric and hybrid vehicles. This year, this number has increased to a total of 32 per cent of all new cars within this same time period.
There are various tax incentives for both company car users and fleet operators who switch to electric vehicles.
With generous financial incentives available, more and more businesses have either already made the switch or are giving serious consideration to doing so.
The CSO study revealed that in the first five months of this year, 36.5 per cent of all new private cars licensed were diesel, compared with 43.8 per cent at the same time for 2020.
To find out more about the latest tax reliefs available for company electric and hybrid vehicles, please contact us.