Covid-19 drives car sales slump in Galway

The Covid-19 pandemic has seen the sales of new cars and used imports in Galway slump by almost 80% over the past three months.

The coronavirus has also impacted the commercial sector, with the sale of small goods vehicles down 75% and the number of new HGVs drop to just two.

Between the beginning of April and the end of June this year, just 100 new cars were registered in Galway City and county – a massive drop of almost 79% from the 470 registered in the same period last year.

In fact, April saw a virtual collapse of the market in Galway, with just seven new cars registered – down more than 97% from 264 in April of 2019.

Data from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) also shows that secondhand imports in the second quarter of this year were down 78% to 331 (from 1,525).

Looking at the first half of the year, new cars recorded a 25.4% slump from 29,41 to 2,194 when compared to the same period last year.

This category of vehicles is called ‘new passenger vehicles’ and include cars, jeeps, people carriers and caravans.

The majority of the new registrations were diesel (49%); followed by petrol (30%); petrol electric (17%); electric (3%); petrol/plug-in hybrid (1%) and diesel electric (three vehicles).

Galway’s most popular new car so far this year is the Toyota Corolla (134 cars sold); followed by the Hyundai Tucson (87); Toyota Yaris (86); Ford Focus (82) and VW Tiguan (77).

The number of new Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) registered in Galway in the second quarter of this year slumped by 93% – from 28 last year to just two. For the year to date, HGV sales dropped 47% from 66 to 35 here.

For Light Commercial Vehicles (small goods vans), there were 32 registered in the second quarter, down 75% from 128 in the same period last year. For the year to date, sales were down 30% from 549 to 383.

Meanwhile, the number of used cars being imported from the UK into Galway slumped by more than half during the first six months of the year (down 55% from 3,104 to 1,396).

As with new cars, the majority of the imports registered here were diesel (74%); followed by petrol (17%); petrol electric (5%); petrol/plug-in hybrid (3%); electric (five vehicles); diesel electric (three vehicles) and gas (one vehicle).

The most popular imports were jointly the Hyundai Tucson and Ford Focus (68 cars each); followed by the Audi A6 (66 cars); VW Golf (63) and Nissan Qashqai (56).

In recent years, used imports outsold the volume of new cars being registered in Galway, as motorists looked to the UK for bargains and high-end cars with specifications that may not have been available or affordable in the Irish marketplace.

Imports of used small goods vehicles in the first six months of the year were down 30% from 549 to 383, while heavy commercial vehicles were down 47% from 66 to 35.