The figures are based on the National Vehicle and Driver File compiled by the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport.
Licensed
Today’s figures show that the number of new cars licensed for the first time in May 2020 was 1,490 compared with 9,126 in May 2019, a drop of 83.7%.
Statistician Olive Loughnane said: “In the first five months of this year, the number of new cars licensed was 26,786 lower than in the same period of 2019, a drop of 36.3%.
“However, the number of new cars licensed in May 2020 is up slightly on April 2020, from 1,338 to 1,490.
“Comparing today’s CSO figures with the recently published Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) figures, it is important to note that over half of new cars licensed in May 2020 were registered before May.”
Today’s figures also show the continuing increase in the relative share of electric and hybrid vehicles.
In the first five months of 2020, almost one in five new cars licensed was either hybrid or electric. This compares with one in eight for the same period last year.
The number of hybrid cars licensed in the period was 7,132 compared with 6,903 in 2019 (+3.3%).
New car registrations, as reported by SIMI, fell to 1,751 in May 2020.
Drop
From January to May 2020, there was a drop of 34.6% in the number of cars registered to 51,904. This compares with 79,350 for the same period in 2019.
The monthly licensing (CSO) figures and the registration figures (SIMI) differ due to the different dates on which a vehicle is registered (number plate) and licensed (tax disc).
A vehicle may be registered by a dealership in advance of a sale, and vehicles which are registered in a given month may not be licensed until a later month.
A vehicle is registered when the vehicle registration tax due on the vehicle is paid to the Revenue Commissioners. Revenue then issue a registration number for the vehicle.
Tax
A vehicle is licensed when the annual car tax due on the vehicle is paid for the first time.
Meanwhile, the value of monthly services decreased by 22.9% in April 2020, when compared with March 2020, on a seasonally adjusted basis – and also decreased by 22.4% on an annual basis.
In April, all sectors showed a decline in turnover compared with the previous month.
Listed in numerical order, the sectors with the largest monthly decreases were:
- Accommodation and food service activities (-56.9%),
- Other service activities (-46.9%),
- Transportation and storage (-33.5%),
- Wholesale and retail trade (-27.1%),
- Information and communication (-17.9%),
- Professional, scientific and technical activities (-14.9%), and
- Administrative and support-service activities (-13.2%).
On an annual basis, all sectors showed a decrease in turnover compared with the same month last year.
Listed in numerical order, the sectors with the largest annual decreases were:
- Accommodation and food service activities (-76.5%),
- Other service activities (-57.7%),
- Transportation and storage (-48.9%),
- Administrative and support-service activities (-31.7%),
- Wholesale and retail trade (-26.9%),
- Professional, scientific and technical activities (-19.6%),
- Information and communication saw an annual decrease of 0.6%.