NEW CAR SALES for January were up 28.7 per cent on the same month last year, with 21,078 new cars registered. As the Government’s scrappage scheme was already in place last year, this suggests a recovery in the car market.
Toyota topped sales with registrations of 3,704, followed by Ford with 2,514, Volkswagen with 2,291 and Renault with 1,669, according to figures released by the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI).
The best selling car in Ireland last month was the Avensis, with 1,189 registrations, followed by the Golf with 948 and the Corolla with 891. Emissions – and the consequent motor tax rates – still play a major part it seems, with 89.6 per cent of cars sold in January falling into tax bands A and B, with emissions of less than 141g/km. These are also the bands within which new cars qualify for scrappage scheme discounts. Diesel is now a clear favourite among buyers, with 70.4 per cent of total sales compared to 27.9 per cent for petrol models. Hybrids made up 107 of last month’s new cars.
Alan Nolan, director general of SIMI, described the figures as satisfactory. “There is a sense the industry is continuing on a road to recovery, but this is tempered with obvious reservations about the future. Scrappage continues to drive interest in market, but it’s too early to say what role it has played in the sales last month.”
With the scrappage scheme due to end by July, there are concerns that there will be a fall-off in trade but Nolan believes this will be tempered by the fact that sales in the last six months are always lower than the early part of the year.
Finance remains one of the big issues for customers and, while most franchised dealers selling new cars have agreements in place for customers, several used car outlets have found it more difficult. As a result SIMI has come together with the Credit Union to create an online application process for dealers. Customers can apply online at dacu.ie (Direct Access Credit Union) for car finance under the new system.