Irish car buyers double spend on UK imports

Irish car buyers more than doubled their spend on importing vehicles from the UK during the first half of 2017 compared with the same period last year.

According to data released by foreign exchange company Fexco Corporate Payments, Irish buyers spent 134 per cent more on importing used cars from the UK than they did in the first half of 2016.

The number of people buying cars rose by a similar level with the volume of cross-Border car purchases increasing by 116 per cent.

According to Fexco, “the combination of the UK’s greater supply of used cars and sterling weakness means Irish motorists can get more for their money when buying cars in the UK”.

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The data shows the average transaction size increased by 32 per cent in the first half of this year, to €12,071.

A surge in imports of UK cars by Irish car dealers and garages was also recorded. In the first six months of 2017, they increased the number of transactions by nearly a third and spent 25 per cent more in euro terms on importing cars from the UK compared with the same period in 2016.

"The UK has a far greater supply of used cars but the cost and red tape involved in importing a UK-registered car into Ireland has traditionally put off all but professional or the most committed individual buyers," said David Lamb, head of dealing at Fexco Corporate Payments.

“All that changed with the abrupt fall in the pound unleashed by Britain’s vote for Brexit.

“One year on from the referendum, Irish car buyers – both individuals and garages – are queuing up to capitalise on sterling’s weakness by importing cars from the UK.”

The payments company analysed 2,000 transactions made by its currency dealers on behalf of Irish individuals or car dealers in the first six months of 2017.