January 2023 New Vehicle Registrations Weaken

Motor Industry Association Chief Executive David Crawford says that on the back of a softening economy, January 2023 registrations of 12,481 new vehicles were 7.4% down (998 units) on January 2022.

Registrations of 9,274 passenger and SUVs were up 3.9% (349 units) however registrations of 3,207 commercial vehicles were down 29.6% (1,347 units) on last January.

It is pleasing to see confidence from private buyers is holding up, however the business sector appears to batting down the hatches on unnecessary or unaffordable expenditure.

Registrations of new battery electric vehicles were softer than the last quarter of 2022, however, registrations of non-plugin hybrids remain strong.

Key points

• January 2023 registrations of new vehicles were 7.4% down (998 units) on January 2022.
• There were 1,246 BEVs, 495 PHEVs and 2,075 hybrid vehicles registered in January.
• The trend to the smaller end of vehicle size continues with 61% of vehicles registered for the month being medium or smaller.
• The Toyota Hilux, followed by the Ford Ranger and then the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross were the top three models for the month.

Market leaders in January / 2023

Toyota retained the overall market lead for the month of January with 20% market share (2,529 units), followed by Kia with 12% (1,506) units and Mitsubishi with 10% market share (1,298 units).

BEVs, PHEVs and Hybrids

There were 1,237 light vehicle BEVs and 9 heavy vehicle BEVs registered in January. The top models were the BYD Atto3 (235 units) followed by the MG ZS (166 units) and the KIA EV6 (149 units).

There were 495 PHEV’s registered for the month of January. The top models were the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross (227 units) followed by the Ford Escape (57 units) and the Kia Niro (38 units).

Registrations of Hybrid vehicles (HEVs) were strong for the month with 2,075 vehicles registered in January. The top models were the Toyota RAV4 (337 units), followed by the Toyota Yaris Cross (212) and the Toyota Corolla Cross (193 units).

SUV and passenger vehicle sales January / 2023

Toyota was the market leader for passenger and SUV registrations in January with 17% market share (1,540 units) closely followed by Kia with 16% (1,506 units) and then Mitsubishi with 11% market share (982 units).

The top selling passenger and SUV models for the month were the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross (421 units) followed by the Toyota RAV4 (386 units) and the Kia Stonic (341 units).

Commercial vehicle sales January / 2023

For the month of January, Toyota regained the market lead with 31% market share (989 units) followed by Ford with 28% (892 units) and Mitsubishi third with 10% market share (316 units).

The top models for the month of January were the Toyota Hilux (800 units), closely followed by the Ford Ranger (796 units) and the Mitsubishi Triton (311 units).

Segmentation – What Are Consumers Buying

The tops spots were the SUV compact segment with 28% share followed by SUV medium vehicles with 20% then the Pick Up/Chassis 4x4 segment with 15% market share.

The small to medium segments comprised 61% of the total market.

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