Ireland’s cumulative auto registrations in 2020 stood at 116,514 units, down by 22.2pc as compared to 149,748 units in 2019, according to data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
The country has been placed under lockdowns three times since Feb 2020, under which all the non-essential retail, including car dealers, remained shut, affected the overall sales of vehicles. The auto industry across the globe was impacted by the pandemic, especially between April-June.
Private car registrations in 2020 declined by 25.6pc to 84,309 units from 113,305 units in 2019. Electric and hybrid cars continued to grow in popularity and contributed 19.7pc of new private car registrations.
The proposed Irish legislation in early 2020 to ban the sales of fossil fuel cars in 2030 and its use by 2045 to reduce emissions has given a push to EV and hybrid private car sales.
Volkswagen was the most popular choice for new private cars in 2020, followed by Toyota, Hyundai, Skoda, and Ford.
Goods vehicle registrations stood at 21,495 units, down by 12.8pc as compared to 24,645 units registered in the preceding year, while registrations of other new vehicles in 2020 fell by 9.2pc to 10,710 units from 11,798 units in 2019.
December registrations
In December 2020, the country’s auto registrations grew by 35.5pc to 2,047 units as compared to 1,511 units in the same month year prior.
Private car registrations in December grew by 41.6pc to 1,032 units from 729 units in the previous year, while goods vehicle registrations stood at 735 units, up by 38.1pc as compared to 532 units registered during the same month in the prior year.
Registrations of other new vehicles in December 2020 rose by 12pc to 280 units as compared to 250 units registered in December 2019.
The global auto industry began slowly reviving as nations eased curbs after September. However, due to the new strain of COVID-19, several European countries have reinstated lockdown measures and closed their border which could affect auto manufacturing and sales.