Figures released by the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) show that new car sales were up 93.91 percent compared to September 2009. A total of 4,330 new cars were registered in September compared to 2,233 in September last year.
Registrations for 2010 now stand at 83,457 units, which is an increase of 52.28 percent on the whole of 2009's. Cars from motor tax Band A (0-120g/km) made up the bulk of sales with 48.31 percent of the month's total, closely followed by cars from tax Band B, with 41.18 percent. For the year to date, cars from tax Band A (33.84 percent) and B (44.99 percent) make up the overwhelming majority of sales.
Cars from Band A show a staggering 317.71 percent increase in sales compared to 2009. Cars from the highest three bands, namely E, F and G are now largely irrelevant in the Irish market. Cars with emissions from 171-225+g/km now have a combined market share of just 3.41 percent. Both Band E and Band F cars have seen a drop in demand by more than 50 percent compared to the same period (Jan-Sept) in 2009.
Diesel cars were not surprisingly the biggest sellers in September with 62.8 percent compared to 29 percent for their petrol counterparts. This is almost the same ratio of diesel versus petrol sales for the year-to-date.
Renault was the big winner in September, with its Mégane and Clio models occupying the top two positions. Renault sold more than 2.5 times the number of Méganes (422) than Volkswagen sold of the Golf (166) in September, however the Volkswagen Golf still retains the number one spot for Ireland's biggest-selling model for 2010 so far, with 3,698 units - just five more than the Ford Focus in second place. Ireland's top-ten sellers are made up of six brands: Volkswagen, Ford, Renault, Toyota, Nissan and Skoda.