What's the news?
The Irish motor industry suffered another depressing month in October, with sales falling by 11.2 per cent, compared to the same month last year. That means that 1,725 new cars were sold in October this year, instead of the 1,943 that found homes in October 2017.
That means that total registrations for the year to date are down by 4.4 per cent overall, at 124,809 new cars sold. That compares to 130,491 sold to the same date last year.
Once again, and once again thanks to the continued Brexit-induced weakness in Sterling, imports continued to rise, by 7.45 per cent for October, a total of 9,141 cars. October 2017 saw just 8,507 second hand cars imported. The total number of cars imported in the year to date now stands at 86,418, an 8.95 per cent increase on the 79,320 figure from the same period last year. It means that there's now a very real possibility that the total number of imported cars will breach the 100,000 barrier this year.
Commenting on the figures Brian Cooke SIMI Director General Designate said "It comes as no surprise that new car registrations are down again this month, in line with the trend in the market so far this year. While the domestic economic backdrop continues to be positive, as evidenced by the increase in commercial vehicle registrations this year, the impact of Brexit and the associated weakness of Sterling has seen an increase in the volume of used imports, which has been to the detriment of the new car market."
There was slightly better news in the van and commercial vehicle market, which saw a rise of 14.1 per cent in October, to 998 sales, compared to 875 in October 2017. Total van sales are up 5.9 per cent for the year to date (that's 24,779 in total) and that's usually taken as being a good sign for the overall health of the national economy. Heavy goods vehicles, similarly, were up by 13.2 per cent in October, and 4.8 per cent for the year to date.
In the sales charts, Volkswagen continues to hold the best-selling brand spot for the year to date, ahead of Toyota, Hyundai, Ford, and Nissan. The best selling model for the year so far is the Nissan Qashqai, followed by the Hyundai Tucson, Ford Focus, Volkswagen Golf, and Skoda Octavia. The Qashqai was the best-selling car in October.
Interestingly, electric vehicle sales have pretty much doubled for the year to date, compared to 2017. The numbers are still small, overall, but 1,211 EVs have been sold in 2018, compared to 610 this time last year.