Official statistics released by the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI ) show that new car registrations were up 23 per cent (950 ) last month when compared to November 2014 (771 ). New car registrations for the year are currently up 30 per cent (124,605 ) on the same period last year.
Light Commercial Vehicles (LCV ), were marginally up 2 per cent (622 ) on November 2014 (612 ) while for the year to date are performing strongly, up a massive 42 per cent (23,471 ).
HGV (Heavy Goods Vehicles ) show that registrations, for the month of November are up 83 per cent (77 ) compared to the same month last year (42 ), and are up 8 per cent (2,135 ) for the year to date.
Commenting on the figurers SIMI director general Alan Nolan said “New registrations for cars and commercial vehicles this year have underlined the very strong growth in sales activity but as we move closer towards the end of the year, registrations are beginning to naturally slow down. We would expect to see the year end with car sales above 125,000 translating into a good year of recovery for the motor industry.
At this stage attention is now very much focused on next year and the 161 registration period, with dealer feedback indicating strong consumer interest and increased footfall in showrooms.
We often hear people suggest that there has never been a better time to buy but this time you could almost say its official! In the recent SIMI/DoneDeal Quarterly Report, the economist Jim Power confirmed that the average cost of a new car is down, fuel costs are down, and road tax is lower on cleaner new cars.
With better fuel economy from more efficient new cars, along with keen finance offers and strong incentives from the different brands, prospective buyers have a variety of choice and great value deals on offer to them. So the advice is to do the research and shop around to get the best deal available for the new year.
Ford was the top-selling brand for both cars and commercial vehicles during the month of November. Ford sold 114 cars and 199 commercial vehicles during the month giving the blue oval a 12 per cent share of the car market (total 950 units ) and a 28.5 per cent share in the van market (total 699 units ). In the November car market, Ford’s tally of 114 units was just ahead of VW (110 units ), with Skoda (83 units ) in third.
Tops for the year so far
However despite the bad publicity for the use of a cheating device on emissions, Volkswagen lead the Irish new car market for the year to date with 15,226 sales (12.23 per cent market share ), followed in second place by Toyota with 12,977 sales (10.42 per cent market share ), and Ford are third with 12,032 (9.48 per cent ). These three are followed by: Hyundai, Nissan, Skoda, Opel, Renault, Kia, and Audi, who make up the top ten for the year to date.
The five top selling new car nameplates so far this year are the Volkswagen Golf, Ford Focus, Nissan Qashqai, Skoda Octavia, and the Ford Fiesta.
In the Light Commercial Vehicles market, Ford leads the way with a massive 26.92 per cent market share. Volkswagen are second with 14.74, and Renault is third with 12.4 per cent. Combined, those three manufacturers account for over 54 per cent of the Irish new LCV/van sales so far this year.
Finally, the top selling van nameplates this year (so far ) are: the Ford Transit with 3,009 sales (12.77 per cent market share ); followed by the Ford Transit Connect with 1,661 (7.05 per cent ); Volkswagen Caddy with 1,527 (6.48 per cent ); Renault Trafic with 1,186 (5.03 per cent ); and the Citroen Berlingo with 1,142 (or 4.85 per cent market share ).
