The latest new car registration statistics from the Motorcheck.ie Car Index shows an impressive rise of 180 per cent for April 2010 when compared to the same month in 2009.
The statistics show the overall total for new passenger cars registered in 2010 (51,450 ) is up 51 per cent on last year and now just over 4,000 registrations behind those registered for the entire year in 2009 (55,578 ).
Commenting on the latest figures, Shane Teskey, co-founder of Motorcheck.ie, said: "While this is certainly good news for the industry, it should be remembered that the majority of new car sales are concentrated into the first three months of the year and this year's figures will be inflated by those availing of the Government scrappage scheme. Indeed our statistics show that despite the scrappage incentive, the slow-down has already begun with sales for April already dropping 38 per cent on those registered in March."
According to a statement made by Deputy Sean Haughey to the Seanad last week, more than 4,500 scrappage claims have been processed since the scheme was introduced by the Government at the start of the year.
"Our analysis shows that in the first four months of the year there were over 120,000 cars on the road that qualified by virtue of age alone for the scrappage scheme. The latest information from Government shows the number of cars processed to be in excess of 4,500 making the uptake a relatively modest 3.75 per cent."
According to Motorcheck, a further 106,000 cars will qualify for scrappage as the year continues. This means that the industry could expect approximately 4,000 additional sales to come directly from the Government incentive. If that number is achieved and car sales hit a forecasted total of 75,000 for the year, the scrappage incentive will have accounted for 11 per cent (8,500 ) of total new car sales.
Teskey said: "The industry is depending on customers continuing to avail of scrappage at the same or greater rate as the year progresses. However, as the economy continues to suffer and a lack of credit for new car purchases continues to hamper sales, maintaining a strong focus on 'value for money' with scrappage and other incentives will be critical to keeping momentum up as the year continues."
