January Car Sales down 1.7%

New figures from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) show that new car registrations fell by 1.7% in January with 39,019 registrations, compared to January 2016 with 39,722 registrations.

Light commercial vehicle (LCV) registrations were down 2.46% in January (6394) compared to the same month last year (6555). The top five selling makes of LCV were; Ford (1661), Volkswagen (1148), Renault (742), Toyota (621) and Peugeot (415).

Heavy goods vehicle registrations (HGV) were down 6.37% in January (456) compared to January last year (487). The top selling makes of HGV were; Volvo (169), Scania (86), Mercedes-Benz (65), Daf (42) and Renault (27).

 

Hyundai was the best selling make in January, despite a drop in sales compared to last year. Toyota and Ford took 2nd and 3rd place, with Volkswagen and Nissan completing the top five.

The Hyundai Tucson was once again the best selling model in January, with the Ford Focus, Ford Fiesta, Nissan Qashqai and Volkswagen Golf completing the top five.

 

On the cost of motoring, SIMI found that the average price of a new car was 5.5% cheaper in December 2016 compared to December 2015. Meanwhile, prices of petrol (+1.9%) and diesel (+3.2%) have both risen in the last year and insurance costs were 61.5% higher than they were in 2013.

Alan Greene, SIMI President commented: “The Motor Industry continues to be a strong contributor to employment with 40,800 people employed throughout Ireland. Last year our Industry contributed €1.5 Billion to the Exchequer in car sales alone. 2017 was always going to be a more cautious year for businesses, right across the economy, but we have seen a steady start in January and hopefully we are on track for another good year and continuation of a stable market during the rest of the year.”

For more information and statistics visit www.beepbeep.ie/stats.