While new car sales received their normal July registration bounce in Ireland, sales around Europe showed a serious drop in key markets last month. The German market fell by 25% in July as the shortage of chips limited supply, while UK sales were 30% down, falling to their lowest July level since 1998.

Figures from the KBA motor authority showed the recovery of car sales in German stalled in July with new registrations at 236,393, 25% down on last year. Buyers found their desired models were often unavailable due to the global semi conductor shortage. The figures also compare less favourably with last year as July 2020 saw German dealerships open for the first time after lockdown.

Only Tesla, Opel and Land Rover saw any sales gain. VW sales were 17% down, Mercedes-Benz down 38%, BMW down 28% and Audi down 23%. Imported brands such as Renault and Nissan saw drops of 40% plus.

In terms of power plants diesel registrations were down 52%, while plug-in hybrids were up 58% and over took diesels in terms of market share. Sales of full-electric cars were up 52%, representing a 10.8% market share.

Meanwhile in the UK its 30% drop was attributed partly to the chip shortage, but was also hit by a high level of self isolation. Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) figures show registrations as 123,296 vehicles for July. Also last July, the UK had the bounce effect of dealerships reopening.

In terms of market share by vehicle power type, petrol continues to top the list at 44.8%, down from 58% last year. Diesel has fallen from 16.5% in July 2020 to just 7.1% in 2021. Mild Hybrid petrol and diesel were at 13.5 and 5.5% respectively. Plug in hybrids hit an 8% market share, while true hybrids stood at 11.9%. Battery electric vehicles increased market share from 4.7% in 2020, to 9% in 2021.