May 2023 New Vehicle Registrations Overall Steady, However Passenger Vehicles Down And Commercial Vehicles Up

Motor Industry Association Chief Executive Aimee Wiley says that May 2023 registrations of 13,354 held steady at just 0.1% (17 units) up on May 2022, noting that May 2022 registrations were lower than usual due to the introduction of Clean Car Discount (CCD).

Registrations of 9,566 passenger and SUVs were down 9.5% (1,009 units) on May 2022, however registrations of 3,788 commercial vehicles were up 37.1% (1,026 units) on last May.

Registrations of new battery electric vehicles were led by the BYD Atto 3 and MG ZS. Registrations of non-plugin hybrids remain strong, up 877 units on May last year.

Commercial vehicle sales surged in May 2023, this result will likely be repeated in June on the back of further increases to Clean Car Discount fees from 1 July. On a year-to-date basis, commercial vehicles remain down 23.5% (5,449 units) due the impact of the Clean Car Discount fees on to light commercial vehicles.

Key points

• May 2023 registrations of new vehicles held steady at 0.1% up on May 2022.
• There were 1,219 BEVs, 727 PHEVs and 2,534 hybrid vehicles registered in May.
• The trend to the smaller end of vehicle size continues with 59% of vehicles registered for the month being medium or smaller.
• The Ford Ranger, followed by the Toyota RAV4 and Toyota Hilux were the top three models for the month.
• There were 612 registrations of heavy commercial vehicles for the month of May.

Market leaders in May / 2023

Toyota retained the overall market lead for the month of May with 21% market share (2,765 units), followed by Mitsubishi with 11% (1,459 units) and Ford with 10% market share (1392 units).

BEVs, PHEVs and Hybrids

There were 1,171 light passenger vehicle BEVs and 46 light commercial plus 2 heavy commercial vehicle BEVs registered in May. The top models were the BYD Atto 3 (223 units) followed by the MG ZS (204 units) and Hyundai Ioniq 5 (120 units).

There were 727 PHEV’s registered for the month of May. The top models were the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross (285 units) followed by the Mitsubishi Outlander (180 units) and the Ford Escape (61 units).

Registrations of hybrid vehicles (HEVs) were 2,534 units for May. The top models were the Toyota RAV4 (698 units), followed by the Honda Jazz (178 units) and the Hyundai Tucson (175 units).

SUV and passenger vehicle sales May / 2023

Toyota retained the market lead for passenger and SUV registrations in May with 19% market share (1,785 units) followed by Mitsubishi with 11% (1098 units) and then Hyundai with 9% market share (870 units).

The top selling passenger and SUV models for the month were the Toyota RAV4 (860 units) followed by the Mitsubishi Outlander (452 units) and the Suzuki Swift (403 units).

Commercial vehicle sales May / 2023

For the month of May, Ford retained the market lead with 28% market share (1073 units) followed by Toyota with 26% (980 units) and Mitsubishi third with 10% market share (361 units).

The top models for the month of May were the Ford Ranger (983 units), followed by the Toyota Hilux (746 units) and the Mitsubishi Triton (360 units).

Segmentation – What Are Consumers Buying

The tops spots were the SUV medium segment (24% share) and SUV compact segment (20% share) followed by Pick Up/Chassis 4x4 segment with 16% market share.

The small to medium segments comprised 59% of the total market.

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