Motor Industry Association Chief Executive David Crawford says that despite March 2021 being the strongest March on record for sales of new vehicles, a year on from our first Covid-19 lockdown restrictions our sector is still operating under disrupted supply arrangements and computer chip supply shortages.
As shipments arrive, vehicles are going straight through Customs, distributor predelivery inspections and entry compliance to the franchised dealer and onto the new owner, who invariably has been on a wait list.
Comparing March this year to March 2020 is a statistical challenge due to lost delivery time as we entered in full lockdown and current month arrivals are mainly fulfilling long wait lists.
March 2021 registrations of 15,498 were 86.3% up on March 2020. Year to date the market is up 27.6% (9,046 units) compared to the first quarter of 2020.
Key points
•Overall, March 2021 registrations of 15,498 vehicles were up 86.3% (7,181 units) on the same month in 2020.
•There were 424 pure electric vehicles, 150 PHEV’s and 855 hybrid vehicles sold for the month.
•Registration of 10,113 passenger and SUVs for March 2021 were up 27.3% (6,112 units) on March 2020, while commercial vehicle registrations of 5,385 were up 85.6% (2,484 units) compared to March 2020. This is a record month of March for both passenger and commercial vehicles.
•The top three models for the month of March were the Toyota Hilux (1,019 units), followed by the Ford Ranger (828 units) with the Mitsubishi Triton in third place (691 units).
Market leaders in March / 2021
Toyota remains the overall market leader with 15% market share (2,352 units), followed by Mitsubishi with 11% (1,743 units) and Ford in third spot with 9% market share (1,367 units).
SUV and passenger vehicle sales March / 2021
Toyota was the market leader for passenger and SUV registrations with 11% market share (1,106 units) followed by Kia with 10% (1,054 units) and then Mitsubishi also with 10% market share (1,018 units).
The top selling passenger and SUV models for the month were the Mitsubishi Outlander (467 units) followed by the Kia Sportage (345 units) and the Mazda CX-5 (339 units).
Commercial vehicle sales March / 2021
Toyota retained the market lead with 23% market share (1,246 units) followed by Ford with 17% (925 units) and Mitsubishi third with 13% market share (725 units).
The Toyota Hilux retained the top spot for the month of March as the bestselling commercial model with 19% share (1,019 units) followed by the Ford Ranger with 15% share (828 units) and the Mitsubishi Triton in third place with 13% market share (691 units).
Segmentation – Smaller SUVs hold their share
The top spot for March 2021 went to the SUV Compact vehicles with 21% share followed by SUV Medium also with 19% market share and then the Pick Up/Chassis 4x4 segment with 17% share.
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