The end of year report from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) is in and it will come as little surprise to hear that new car sales are down, though not quite as much as expected. Compared to 2012, seven per cent fewer new cars were sold (74,303 vs. 79,547).
While it is disappointing to see a further drop in sales there is a silver lining - sales of commercial vehicles (long time seen as a barometer of the economy) are up by three per cent for light commercials and 27 per cent for heavy commercials (or trucks as we know them). Along with that, the used car market is buoyant.
A lot of this buoyancy can be attributed to the increase in used car imports, which are plugging the gaps of 2008/2009 downturn. All told car imports are up by 25 per cent over 2012 with commercial imports up a whopping 65.8 per cent. Taking new car and import registrations into account overall registrations are up by 4.8 per cent.
Announcing the figures Alan Nolan, SIMI's Director General said:
"While the new car market is down on last year, it did stage a strong recovery in the 132 registration period (July-Dec) after a very poor first six months. The Commercial Vehicle sales figures are also an indication of recovery in the sector and the latest jobs figures from the CSO show 1,000 more people working in the Motor Industry now compared to the middle of 2013."
"As we look forward to this year, many in the Industry are very positive for the new car market. Dealers around the country have been reporting an increase in showroom traffic and stronger sales activity for the new 141 registration period in January compared to last year."
For the second year running Volkswagen topped the sales charts with 9,508 registrations ahead of Toyota and Ford while the Golf was the top selling car beating off stiff competition from the evergreen Nissan Qashqai and Ford Focus models.