CCCFA bites some finance applications, but still a solid month for new vehicle sales in January as stock levels for some models replenish

January was a solid month for vehicle sales overall, but new consumer lending regulations which took effect in December, meant more rigorous checking of personal finance applications and contributed to a 7.8% year-on-year sales decrease for non-commercial passenger vehicles, the industry body says.

Overall figures were also down on a year ago said David Crawford, Chief Executive of the Motor Industry Association (MIA), pointing to 13,514 sales of new vehicles during January, a decrease of 2.73% (379 units) on January 2021.

Of the January total, 8,953 were passenger vehicles and 4,561 commercial.

"Passenger vehicles were down 7.8% on January a year ago, partly affected by tighter
lending restrictions for private purchases," Crawford said.

He's referring to changes to the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act (CCCFA) introduced in December. They are designed to protect borrowers from predatory lending, but critics argue they are too prescriptive and risk causing a credit crunch.

Stock levels of some popular models were beginning to replenish and it was a particularly strong month for Mitsubishi, which had front running models in both the passenger and commercial categories.

The electric family contributed 470 BEVs (battery electric vehicles), 208 PHEVs (plug-in hybrid electric vehicles) and 828 hybrids towards the total, representing 11.2% of the fleet with some form of electrification in their drivetrain.

Small to medium segments weighed in at just over half (56%) of all sales. 

The top segments for January were SUV (sport utility vehicle) compact and SUV medium, tied on 22% each, followed by the pick up/chassis cab 4x4 with a 19% share.

Top sellers for the month of January, as reported by the MIA:

• Overall: the Mitsubishi Outlander came out on top, followed by the Mitsubishi Triton and the Ford Ranger.
• Makes: Mitsubishi was out in front with 21% market share (2,814 units), followed by Ford with 9% (1,219 units) and Toyota with 9% market share (1,166 units).
• Electric models by type: the top-selling BEV was the Hyundai Kona, the top PHEV was the MG HS and the top hybrid vehicle was the Honda Jazz.
• Passenger/SUV makes: Mitsubishi led the market with a 19% share (1,677 units) followed by Kia with 12% (1,085 units) and Hyundai with 8% market share (734 units). 
• Passenger/SUV models: top sellers were the Mitsubishi Outlander (1,188 units) followed by the Hyundai Kona (7304 units) and the MG ZS (302 units).
• Commercial vehicle makes: Mitsubishi again took the market lead with 25% market share (1,137 units) followed by Ford with 21% (976 units) and Toyota with 15% market share (669 units).
• Commercial vehicle models: the Mitsubishi Triton took the top spot  as the bestselling commercial model with 25% share (1,118 units) followed by the Ford Ranger with 21% share (6953 units) and the Toyota Hilux in third place with 11% market share (507 units). 

While long wait lists for some brands have been alleviated, others continue to suffer from supply constraints, said Crawford.

The global semiconductor shortage had been plaguing the industry for some time and is expected to continue through most of 2022. Most modern cars contain over 1000 of these electrical processing chips.