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Boom times for electric

Registrations of pure electric cars in 2021 soar by 344 per cent compared to 2020 as overall new-vehicle sales record set.
Posted on 06 January, 2022
Boom times for electric

Sales of new vehicles with some form of electrification grew strongly in 2021, reports the Motor Industry Association (MIA).

There were with 6,899 battery electric vehicles (BEVs), 2,461 plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) and 13,794 traditional hybrids registered last year.

Sales of BEVs rocketed in 2021 by 344 per cent from 1,554 in 2020. The increase for PHEVs last year came in 225.5 per cent higher than their total of 756 in 2020, and sales of hybrids rose by 59.2 per cent from 8,667 over the same timescale.

Last year’s best-selling BEV was Tesla’s Model 3, pictured, on 3,271 units. It was followed by the MG ZS with 872 and Hyundai’s Kona on 825 units.

The top three hybrids for year were all Toyotas – the RAV4 with 4,596 sales, the Corolla on 1,987 units and the Highlander with 942. 

The MIA reports the strongest December on record solidified market results for 2021 as the strongest year for passenger vehicle and SUV sales, the second strongest for commercials and strongest year ever overall. 

“For 2022, the order book remains strong with long wait lists for popular models,” says chief executive David Crawford. 

There were 165,287 new-vehicle registrations in 2021 for an increase of 38.3 per cent, or 45,837 units, compared to 2020. The previous strongest year was 2018 with 161,519. The small to medium segments comprised 56 per cent of sales for 2021.

Toyota claimed an 18 per cent share of the overall new-vehicle market thanks to 29,258 units registrations.

It was followed by Mitsubishi with 12 per cent and 20,140 units. Ford came third with 10 per cent and 17,286 with its Ranger taking out 12,580 sales.

For the year, the top-selling passenger and SUV model was Mitsubishi’s Outlander with 6,506 units. Second spot went to Toyota’s RAV4 with 6,212 sales, while Mitsubishi’s ASX came third on 5,036 units.

For the first time, a BEV made it into the top five with the Model 3 in the fifth spot thanks to 3,271 registrations during the year.

As for commercial models, the Ranger finished last year 4,150 units ahead of Toyota’s Hilux, which had 8,430 registrations. Third spot went to Mitsubishi’s Triton on 6,506.

For the year, Ford retained the commercial market lead with 26 per cent and 13,744 units. Next up were Toyota with 21 per cent and 11,375 sales, and Mitsubishi with 10 per cent and 5,558.