Used cars still almost double pre-pandemic prices
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Used car prices in Ireland are still almost double what they were before the pandemic, according to the latest DoneDeal index.
The report shows car price inflation is finally beginning to slow, but reveals prices are still 79% higher than before covid-19.
In the second quarter of 2023, quarterly price inflation dropped to 0.9%, its lowest level of since the beginning of the pandemic. This was down from a high of 8% in the third quarter of 2021.
According to the report, electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrids now also account for just over half (51.3%) of new cars registered in Ireland.
This compares to just 18% in 2020 and 6.2% in 2018.
In the second quarter of 2023, 5,009 new EVs were registered here, representing a 127% increase compared to the same period last year.
The number of new EVs has grown considerably in Ireland in the past few years, from just 1,233 in 2018, to 4,013 in 2020, and then 15,676 in 2022.
According to economist Dr Tom Gillespie, who compiled the index, this recent increase in EVs is quickly “trickling into the used car market”.
The first three months of 2023 saw a tripling of the number of used EVs listed on DoneDeal in comparison to the previous quarter. In the second quarter, this increased again to over 1,700 listings.
While secondhand EVs only account for 2.2% of used cars listed on DoneDeal, this is a large increase from the same period a year ago, when EVs accounted for just 0.7% of used cars listed on the site.
Prices for used EVs also dropped sharply by 4.7% in the second quarter. This is the largest price drop in any part of the Irish used-car market since well before the pandemic.
Dr Gillespie said: “As EVs become more plentiful in the used car market they will become more affordable, encouraging more people to switch to a cleaner method of transport.”
The report also reveals the market for new cars in Ireland is also growing.
In the second quarter of 2023, 19,440 new cars were registered here, representing an increase of 27.4% compared to the same period a year ago.
Imports also increased slightly by 0.7% compared to the same period last year to a total of 12,553 in the same period, 2023.
The share of used cars being imported from the UK fell to a new low of 28.8%.
“This is in stark contrast to Q1 of 2020, when the share of all imported used cars coming from the UK was 93.6%,” Dr Gillespie said.
Overall, used car imports to Ireland are down 52.3% in the first three months of 2023 when compared to the first three months of 2019.