THE north’s car industry continued on the road to recovery in January, despite the apparent impact of the cost crisis on consumer spending habits.
New figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) showed 4,687 new cars were registered here last month, a 12.6 per cent rise on the 4,161 from January 2022 and double the sales from January 2021.
That left sales less than 7 per cent behind where the industry stood in January 2020, before the onset of Covid-19, when 5,030 new cars rolled out of forecourts in Northern Ireland.
While the gap is continuing to close on pre-Covid sales levels, the north’s car industry had been experiencing a slump even before the declaration of a pandemic in March 2020.
The 5,030 new cars sold in January 2020 was 11 per cent down on the 5,660 registered in January 2019.
The SMMT’s first breakdown of new car sales from Northern Ireland for 2023 show SUVs remained popular.
Volkswagen’s compact SUV, the T-Roc was the best-selling new motor, recording 125 sales, putting it ahead of old favourites the Hyundai Tucson (118) and Ford Fiesta (109).
MG’s HS (99) and Nissan’s Juke (95) completed the top five, showing a strong appetite for compact SUV-style motors.
Toyota’s Corolla (93) and CHR (87), completed the top ten with Kia’s Sportage (87), Volkswagen’s Tiguan (82) and Hyundai’s Kona (79).
UK-wide, the SMMT reported a 14.7 per cent rise in new car sales for January 2023, with electrified vehicles driving the increase.
Registrations of hybrid electric vehicles were 40.6 per cent higher in January than during the same month in 2022.
But, the market share for pure electrics was 13.1 per cent, down from an average of 16.6 per cent last year.
A new SMMT forecast anticipates total registrations across the whole of 2023 will reach 1.79 million, up 11.1 per cent on last year.
But, the industry body warned that the rollout of new electric vehicle charge points is failing to keep pace with demand.
It stated that the ratio of new charge point installations to new plug-in cars fell from 1:42 in the final three months of 2021 to 1:62 between October and December last year.
SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said: "The automotive industry is already delivering growth that bucks the national trend and is poised, with the right framework, to accelerate the decarbonisation of the UK economy.
"The industry and market are in transition, but are fragile due to a challenging economic outlook, rising living costs and consumer anxiety over new technology.
"We look to a Budget that will reaffirm the commitment to net zero and provide measures that drive green growth for the sector and the nation."
