The good news continues for the motor industry as this weeks official statistics released by the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) show that new car registrations for the month of February were up 37%( 21,625) compared to February 2015 (15,778) while total new car sales are up 35% (61,350) on the same period last year (45,586). Light Commercial Vehicles (LCV), are currently up 50% (3,484) on February 2015 (2,328) and year to date are up 39% (10,043) overall. While Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) registrations, are also up 26% for the month of February (260) 2016 compared to the same month last year (206), and are up 83% year to date.
Commenting on the figurers SIMI Deputy Director General Brian Cooke said
“With today the first day of Spring, new car registrations are showing the early signs of a strong 2016 for the Motor Industry. The increased growth in registrations, both in cars and commercial vehicles, for the month of February clearly indicate that consumer and business confidence remain strong. The increase in new car registrations is partly due to the pent-up demand that arose as Ireland has replaced so few older cars with new ones over recent years, and this in addition to lower new car prices driven by the generous offers from retailers and manufacturers, and the availability of low cost finance are all helping to increase sales. In particular those consumers with a car to trade-in are likely to benefit from higher valuations on their trade-ins because the lower level of new cars registered over the previous six years has resulted in a very strong demand for good quality used cars, resulting in a lower cost to change up to a new or newer car.”
Stats in short:
New car sales year to date (2016) 61,350 – (2015) 45,586 +35%
New car sales total February (2016)21,625 – (2015)15,778 +37%
5 Top Selling Makes for the Year 2016:
1 Hyundai
2 Toyota
3 Ford
4 Volkswagen
5 Nissan
5 Top Selling Models for the Year 2016
1 Hyundai Tucson
2 Ford Focus
3 Volkswagen Golf
4 Skoda Octavia
5 Toyota Corolla
Top selling car for the month of February Hyundai Tucson
Top selling colour for the month of February is Grey
Light Commercial Vehicles sales year to date (2016) 10,043-(2015)7,237 +39%
Light Commercial Vehicles sales total February (2016)3,484-(2015) 2,328 +50%
Heavy Goods Vehicle total sales year to date (2016) 412 (2015)752 +82%
Heavy Goods Vehicle sales February total (2016) 260 (2015) 206 +26%
