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Just two years since the introduction of dual registration periods and July is fast becoming the more popular month for new purchases. According to the latest Industry Report from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI), a total of 27,633 new cars were registered in the month of July, just 2,143 fewer than in January, traditionally the month with the highest number of registrations. It brings the total number of new cars registered in 2015 to 109,960 up until the end of July, and puts the industry well on course towards achieving SIMI's predicted 120,000 new car registrations for the year.
The list of best selling models was a familiar sight, with the Volkswagen Golf at the top with 4,860 cars registered, followed by the Ford Focus with 3,972 cars registered and the Nissan Qashqai ranking third most popular with 3,749 cars registered year-to-date. Despite these numbers, it was Toyota that took the second place when categorised by brand, coming in behind Volkswagen.
Geographically the majority of new car registrations occurred in the Leinster and Munster provinces. Dublin recorded the highest number with 32,212 new car registrations up until the end of July, followed by Cork with 10,281 and Kildare with 3,497.
Commenting on the report, SIMI President, Mark Boggan, said: "This is the 3rd year of the dual registration plate, which has been a real success, allowing the Industry to better structure its business year. We now have sales occurring in the second half of the year at rates never seen before as consumers have embraced the opportunity to purchase their new car in July. July this year reached 93% of the January sales figure, compared to 82% last year, 67% in 2013 and 21% in 2012, the last year before the new system was introduced."
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The Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV) sector also saw a strong growth in the number of new vehicle registrations with 18,426 year-to-date - marking a 54 per cent increase over the same period in 2014. In this sector, Ford continues to dominate registrations with 4,671, accounting for a 25.3 per cent market share. Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles retains second place with 2,930 registrations followed by Renault in third with 2,298 registrations.
July was the strongest month for registrations of new Heavy Commercial Vehicles (HCV) with a total of 291 units. The number of registrations in this small but important sector has been the most consistent throughout 2015 with June being the only month when registrations dropped below 200. Scania, a part of the Volkswagen Group, remains on top of the registration charts with 422 units year-to-date, followed by Volvo (311 units) and DAF (199 units).
The increased confidence in the market has helped drive the growth in new vehicle registrations and has seen the Irish Exchequer benefit by €761 million from the sale of both new and used cars, making up 3.7 per cent of the total tax take of the State this year. SIMI also reported that 5,400 new jobs have been created in the motor industry since June 2014.