Vehicle registrations were down by almost a third last month. Photo / 123RF
New car and commercial vehicle registrations were down by almost a third last month as restricted trading conditions reduced sales to 8,313 new vehicles, a year-on-year decline of almost 4,000 vehicles on last May's 12,259 cars.
Overall, the Covid-19 shutdown has seen almost 20,000 fewer new cars on the road
in the past five months, reflecting the effective closure of trading during the April lockdown, where only about 10 per cent of normal sales took place, according to Motor Industry Association sales numbers.
Hard hit were sales in the commercial sector, which were down 37.2 per cent to 2,912 vehicles on the back of reduced buying from the farming and building and construction industries, while the rental market reflected the stalled tourism trade.
Only 23 rental-registered vehicles drove off the lot last month, with the top seller in this category, the Toyota Hiace, moving only seven units.
