New car sales in March were up 78 per cent on the same month last year as the Irish motor industry showed signs of recovery.
Sales were up 31 per cent for the first three months compared to the same period last year, with a total of 42,554 new cars registered.
According to a spokeswoman for the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI), an estimated 4,500 new cars were sold under the Government’s scrappage scheme, although exact figures are not available as dealers don’t have to immediately notify the Revenue when a new car is registered as part of the scheme.
She said new car sales so far “represent an exchequer income of €284 million in VAT and Vehicle Registration Tax (VRT), a significant increase of €57 million compared to the same period last year”. She said that SIMI now expected new car sales to exceed 70,000 this year.
The biggest growth sector in the new car market has been small, lower emission cars. Models that qualify for tax bands A and B – with emissions below 141g/km – now account for 57.3 per cent of sales. Diesel models now make up 64 per cent of new car sales.
Ford has been the most popular brand so far this year, with a 13.8 per cent market share, followed by Toyota with 12.7 per cent and Volkswagen with 11.2 per cent. Renault has secured fourth spot with 9 per cent.
The best-selling models so far this year are Ford’s Fiesta and Focus, followed by the VW Golf.
The good news for the industry continued in the commercial fleet market, where light commercial vehicle sales - normally a bellwether of economic activity - were up 43 per cent.