Car dealers move to digital to sell under COVID-19 restrictions

DUBLIN: Car dealers in Ireland switch to digital systems to overcome COVID-19 restrictions. Dealers have started an online drive to get orders for the next year as showrooms are closed due to COVID restrictions.

November is the month when most people order a car for the New Year. With conventional salesrooms closed, dealers have no choice but to set up digital platforms to encourage car buyers and facilitate sales.

The online platform provides a mechanism to deal with the approximate trade-in value, finance, car features and type of vehicle without going to the garage.

A new competition is emerging in online sales. The latest Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) report says the online vehicle market is experiencing huge growth.

Electric cars

Sales of electric cars increased by 20.09% (3867). This is far from the government’s targets, but sales rose for the second month in a row. Volkswagen ID. 3 electric car was the best-selling vehicle in October.

Used car imports have fallen in 2020 since a NOx tax (Nitrogen Oxide) was imposed last January. This is a result of the fact that the price of older cars, especially diesel cars, is being pushed out of the market. According to the SIMI report, used car imports fell by 18.7% last month. Sales have declined by 37.7% (58,504) so far in 2020.

The most popular brands of the first 10 months were: 1. Volkswagen 2. Toyota 3. Hyundai 4. Skoda 5. Ford. The five best-selling models are the Toyota Corolla, followed by the Hyundai Tucson, Volkswagen Tiguan, Ford Focus and Hyundai Kona.

About 43.1% of the vehicles sold were diesel. Other vehicles gained 37.12% on petrol, 11.9% on hybrid, 4.45% on electric and 2.78% on plug-in hybrid.

Vehicle buyer registrations fell 25.2% (86,870) this year. Last year it was 116,124. October registrations rose 6.2%.