There was an almost 5% increase in new car sales in Laois in 2021 compared to 2020 – though they are still below pre-Covid levels.
A total of 1,236 new cars were sold in the county in 2021, compared to 1,180 in 2020, which was dominated by lengthy closures of car showrooms. That represents a 4.75% increase – though is considerably lower than the 18.8% increase nationally.
In 2019, the last year before the Coronavirus pandemic, there were 1,342 new cars registered in Laois, a 7.9% decrease which compares to 10.4% nationally.
The increase in electric car sales was reflected in Laois in the past year – with a total of 83 new electric cars registered compared to 31 in 2020 and 33 in 2019.
When you include all hybrid cars, there was also an increase with 387 in 2021 compared to 179 in 2020 and 148 in 2019.
“The difficulties arising from both COVID and Brexit impacted on the supply and demand for cars, which made 2021 another challenging year for the Irish Motor Industry,” said SIMI Director General Brian Cooke.
“While new car sales show a 19% increase on 2020, they remain behind 2019 levels. On a positive note, the sale of Electric Vehicles (EVs) more than doubled in 2021, and with the sale of EVs being underpinned by SEAI Grants, we can expect to see an increasing number of new EVs on Irish roads in 2022.
“Commercial Vehicles sales also saw a significant improvement in 2021, with light commercial vehicles up over 30% on 2020, reflecting the increase in business confidence as the year progressed.
“The Industry is hopeful that 2022 will see further improvements in business levels. Pre-orders do indicate a strong appetite for new and used cars, providing a positive outlook for our Industry and with a return to pre-pandemic 2019 new car sales levels expected.”
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