50,000 motor industry jobs in trouble as 'new car activity' plummets

Newly-manufactured Renault cars stored at a distribution terminal in Barcelona. Here in Ireland, registrations of all new vehicles except HGVs slumped by up to 63% last month.

The car industry wants the Government to intervene to protect 50,000 jobs in the sector, as new figures show vehicle sales plummeted in March.

Only 6,174 new cars were registered in March, which is down 63% compared to March 2019, which had 16,687 new registrations.

It is a similar situation across Europe after sales plunged in France and Spain and a major parts supplier scrapped its outlook.

Brian Cooke, the director general of the Society of the Irish Motor Industry, has called for Government intervention to help the industry.

“While showrooms, service, and other activities within the industry are closed, members are available to assist in emergency call-out or delivery services. This will be vital in keeping essential and emergency services moving,” he said.

“The motor industry and its employees, like so many industries, is feeling the devastating impact of Covid-19.

“Even before the crisis commenced, the new car market was in decline, and this fall has accelerated rapidly in the last fortnight, with new car activity down nearly two thirds on last year.

Whatever the duration of this crisis, once we emerge, we will need to see decisive and ambitious action from Government to protect the nearly 50,000 jobs in our sector.

Registrations for the year to date are also down 20.5% to 51,015 when compared to the same time period last year, which had 64,126 registrations.

This is due to lockdown restrictions to combat the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as the sharp rise in unemployment.

The new car registration figures were released by the Society of the Irish Motor Industry yesterday.

Light commercial vehicle registrations are down 52.9% to 1,434 when compared to March last year, which had 3,044 registrations. Overall, light commercial vehicle registrations are down 15.2% for the year to date, with 9,378 being registered so far.

However, heavy goods vehicle registrations are up 17.67% to 313 in comparison to March 2019, which only had 266 registrations. For the year to date, HGVs are up 12.59% to 993.

The number of used car imports for March was 4,656, a decrease of 48.1% compared to March 2019.

In France, passenger car registrations dropped 72% in March compared with the previous year. In Spain, new car registrations fell by 69% to below the worst levels of the financial crisis.

Carmakers — including Volkswagen, the PSA Group, Fiat Chrysler, and Renault — have shuttered factories and showrooms after governments restricted public life to stem the spread of Covid-19.

With people housebound in major car markets such as France and Italy, and non-essential purchases prohibited, consumers aren’t buying new vehicles.