New car sales figures for March show that there was an 8.12 per cent increase in sales in March 2007 compared to the same month last year. Sales for the first three months of the year were up 6.84 per cent on the same period in 2006, with sales reaching 100,773.
Despite the increase in new car sales, there will be cause for worry to many within the Irish motor industry with the number of imported vehicles arriving up by 54 per cent in the first three months of the year compared to the same period two years ago
Of the new cars sold here, the now familiar big three of Toyota, Ford and Volkswagen occupied the same top three places as they did in March 2006. Toyota leads the charge with 14.29 per cent of the Irish market ahead of Ford's 11.79 per cent and Volkswagen at 10.5 per cent.
Opel has swapped places with Nissan compared to this time last year, and buoyed by the arrival of their new Corsa now occupies fourth position with 8.82 per cent of the market share, with Nissan lying fifth with 8.17 per cent.
A notable change in the top 10 for the first quarter of the year sees BMW and Mercedes drop out of this part of the sales charts to be replaced by Skoda and Audi. Audi's 777 units for March and 2,554 for the first quarter, sees the German marque display a 28 per cent increase on the same period last year, and their best ever first quarter results.
The news that an increasing number of Irish consumers are leaving the state in search of a used car bargain has prompted further calls for a revision of the Vehicle Registration Tax system.
Website Cartell.ie, which provides a used car history check, believes the trend will continue. The company's director, Nicola Ahern says: "The importation trend will continue as those in the market for a new vehicle learn more about the bargains to be had in places such as Britain. Part of the added value comes from our current taxation system." Currently some 80,000 vehicles are being imported into the state annually and this compares with some 185,000 sales this year.