With the new 132 registration now released, car firms across Ireland are hoping to see an increase in a market that has performed rather poorly in the first half of 2012.
The introduction of the dual registration has had a profound but expected impact on June's sales overall. Compared with last year over 4,500 fewer new cars were sold in June, dropping year-to-date figures down by 20 per cent in comparison to 2012. The commercial sector has also experienced significant drops in sales performance.
However, Alan Nolan, Director General of SIMI is not disheartened by these figures. "The decline in June's car sales comes as no surprise as people waited for the arrival of new 132 registration plate. Nearly all manufacturers have produced special offers for the 132 plate and dealers have reported a lot of interest. It should be happy sunny days for car buyers in July."
Happy sunny days are also being enjoyed by Volkswagen, as the brand is so far outperforming every other manufacturer in Ireland. To the end of June 2013, Volkswagen has sold the most units, with the Golf racking up the biggest market share of 4.93 per cent. Narrowing the field down even further the little Polo was the biggest selling car in June and Volkswagen aims to continue this performance as the year progresses.
"We are delighted with the results for the 131 plate and we would like to thank our customers for helping us maintain our number one position," comments Paul O'Sullivan, Volkswagen Ireland's Head of Marketing. "With new variants of the Golf such as the GTI and GTD just hitting forecourts we are quietly confident of a good 132."
Anything else?
Further to this news, it has been revealed the 1,932 new cars were registered yesterday (July 1), setting the scene for what the industry hopes to be a bumper month.