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Early signs of a ramp up in Northern Ireland’s new car sales have been snuffed out by new supply chain disruptions caused on Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Latest data from industry body the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders showed 4,186 new cars were registered in the province in March, a fall of just over 9% on the same month last year and a sign the Ukrainian conflict is beginning to impact the trade.

Ukraine is a key supplier of a range of auto-parts, including cable harnesses, according to Ulster Bank’s Chief Economist Richard Ramsey, while Russia produces the precious metal palladium, which is used to make catalytic converters, and nickel, which is used to make car batteries.

As a result, production has been curtailed at a number of manufacturing plants including BMW, Porsche, Volkswagen, Ford and Mercedes-Benz.

The latest supply-side constraint comes just as a shortage of semi-conductors – a direct result of the Covid-19 pandemic and a reason for a slump in new car sales over the last two years – was beginning to ease.

“This means 2022 is shaping up to be another poor year for new car sales with no meaningful recovery expected,” Mr Ramsey said.

He pointed out that 2020 and 2021 were the two worst years for new car sales in Northern Ireland on record and last month’s registrations were down 41%, or 2,950 vehicles, on March 2019.

Meanwhile, inflationary pressures are also seeing a demand shift away from petrol and diesel cars.