Feebate scheme impacts market
The roll-out of the full clean car discount scheme next month has resulted in an “anticipated” shift in sales patterns, reports the Motor Industry Association (MIA).
Chief executive David Crawford says: “Sales of passenger cars and SUVs have softened slightly, whereas sales of light commercial vehicles – most of which will pay a fee from April 1 onwards – have strengthened.
“This is expected and will likely to be repeated in March’s sales. Once the full clean car discount, the feebate side of the scheme, comes into effect, it’s anticipated sales of light commercials will soften.”
Crawford, pictured, notes last month was the strongest February ever for overall sales of new vehicles. Total registrations of 12,551 were by 0.5 per cent up when compared to the same month of 2021. Year to date, the market is down 1.2 per cent, or by 316 units, compared to the first two months of last year.
The top segment last month was the pick-up/chassis 4x4 segment with a market share of 21 per cent, followed by compact SUVs on 19 per cent and medium SUVs with 16 per cent.
“Year to date, there has been a small reduction on the overall share of the market for small vehicles – down from 56 per cent for most of 2021 to 53 per cent for February,” notes Crawford. “This reflects the strong sales of light commercials ahead of the April 1 feebate scheme taking effect.”
During February, there were 689 pure electric vehicles, of which five were heavy vehicles with the remainder being light, registered. The top-selling models were Tesla’s Model 3 on 351 units, Hyundai’s Kona with 54 and Kia’s Niro on 35.
There were 388 plug-in hybrid electric vehicles registered last month. The top Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross with 228 sales came first, followed by the MG HS on 57 and Mitsubishi Outlander with 25.
And there were 1,020 hybrid vehicles sold. The Toyota RAV4 led the way with 187 units. It was followed by the Honda Jazz with 143 and Toyota’s Yaris on 126.
There were 7,680 new passenger vehicles registered last month – down by 11.8 per cent, or 1,032 units, on February 2021, while commercials came in at 4,871 – up by 29 per cent and 1,095 units, according to MIA statistics.
Toyota was the overall best-selling marques with a market share of 16 per cent and 1,972 registrations. It was followed by Mitsubishi with 1,927 and Ford on 1,400. Year to date, Mitsubishi is on 18 per cent, Toyota has 12 per cent and Ford 10 per cent.
Mitsubishi topped the car market with 14 per cent thanks to 1,044 sales. It was followed by Toyota with 12 per cent and Kia with 10 per cent. The top three models were the Outlander on 546, Model 3 with 351 and Suzuki Swift on 290.
Ford regained the market lead for commercials with a 23 per cent market share and 1,141 units. Second was Toyota on 22 per cent with Mitsubishi third on 18 per cent.
The Ranger was the number-one commercial a 23 per cent share and 1,111 units. Next up were the Hilux with 18 per cent and 890 units – 35 more than Mitsubishi’s Triton in third. When it comes to year-to-date market share, the Ranger leads with 22 per cent, the MIA reports. The Triton has 21 per cent and the Hilux 15 per cent.
