SHORTLIST FIVE: The shortlist for the Semperit Irish Car of the Year 2005 has been announced.
The five to make the cut are: Opel Astra, Ford Focus, Peugeot 407, Skoda Octavia and Toyota Prius. The winner will be announced at the award ceremony at the Berkeley Court Hotel, Dublin, on Thursday, November 18th.
Meanwhile, jurors of the European Car of the Year are voting on a seven-car shortlist: BMW Series-1, Citroën C4, Ford Focus, Opel Astra, Peugeot 407, Renault Modus and Toyota Prius. The result is expected next week, with Ford and Toyota likely to do well.
NEW CAR PRICES UP 2.3%: Average retail prices for new cars in Ireland rose 2.3 per cent in the 12 months to October 2004. The new-car price index by PricewaterhouseCoopers and eurocarprice.com shows that average retail prices here last month were 30 per cent higher than western Europe's average and 31 per cent higher than the euro-zone average.
The index measures retail prices, including taxes, of over 100 cars in 19 countries. In the past 12 months, the average car retail price in western Europe rose by 3 per cent. Pre-tax prices in the whole of western Europe rose 1.6 per cent in the year to October.
The MPV segment showed the largest increase in average pre-tax prices in western Europe during the 12 months to October, up 5.1 per cent.