The overall new car market for January 2014 is running at +32.97 per cent ahead of January last year. Soome 23,000 new cars have been sold last month as opposed to 17,242 in January 2013.
The big winners in the top 10 for this January are Toyota (+50.73 per cent ); Hyundai (+52.63 per cent ); Skoda (36.14 per cent ); Renault (85.3 per cent ); and KIA (+36.1 per cent ), which are all running ahead of the market gains in percentage points. Opel (+32.73 per cent ) is more or less running level with the market.
Of the top three market leaders, Toyota has sold 941 more than in January 2013, Volkswagen 536 more, and Hyundai 800 more.
Volkswagen, in common with some others, has suffered delivery delays on some models such as the Polo, while Nissan's position will change this month too when full consignments of the new Qashqai start to flow.
Further down the line the stat that stands out is the Dacia one with 519 sold this January compared to its first January (2013 ) on the market with just 89 sales. That is a whopping 483.15 per cent increase that takes it up in to 14th position in the Irish market
For Toyota, Corolla, Yaris and Auris are in the top 10 model sales for January 2014. Hyundai has the iX35 and i30, and Ford is represented by the Focus and Fiesta. Volkswagen has the Golf in top position, while Skoda has the Octavia in there too. Kia is in 10th position with the Sportage.
However, I am sure some manufacturers/distributors would say this is a marathon not a sprint, and they would be right. But it is an interesting sprint.
My position has always been that we will have a good idea of where the market is and who is doing well or not by March 11 after that month's 10 days figures are available and those of the cumulative sale to date at that point.
