New car registrations remain steady, but the market is still down by 3.47 per cent for the year-to-date, acording to the Society of the Irish Motor Industry.
February registrations are in line (17,081 ) when compared to the similar month in 2017 (17,089 ), while new cars registrations year to date remain -3.5 per cent (54,143 ) down on the same period last year (56,092 ).
The new commercial vehicle sector shows a mixed result between light and heavy commercial vehicle registrations. New light commercial vehicle (LCV ) registrations are up 6.13 per cent (2,634 ) on February 2017 (2,487 ) and year to date are up six per cent (9,356 ). New heavy commercial vehicles (HGV ) have declined 10 per cent for the month of February (243 ) compared to the same month last year (270 ) and are down 11 per cent (646 ) year to date.
Imported used car numbers have increased by 14.4 per cent February 2018 (8,903 ) and year to date are 17.3 per cent (17,964 ) ahead of 2017(15,317 ).
Commenting on the figures, SIMI director general Alan Nolan says Brexit is having an impact.
"New car registrations for the month of February delivered a steady performance when compared with the same month last year, but registrations overall remain 3.5 per cent down year to date. The Brexit impact is visible in the continued growth in used car imports, which were 15.7 per cent up in February."
The increase in the light commercial vehicle sector reflects the strong economic growth for businesses, he says, particularly in the local economy, while HGVs which may be more impacted by Brexit concerns, also remain down 11 per cent.
"The diesel market share is continuing to move back toward more traditional levels in new car sales. Having reached an artificially high peak of 73 per cent in 2014, it is currently standing at 57 per cent so far in 2018. As a consequence of this shift, as SIMI had previously indicated, the average CO2 emissions for new cars registered this year have increased by 2.1 per cent."
Summary of sales stats. in short:
• New car sales year to date:
(2018 ) 54,143 v (2017 ) 56,092. -3.47%;
• New car sales total February:
(2018 ) 17,081 v (2017 ) 17,089, +0.05%;
• Light commercial vehicles sales year to date:
(2018 ) 9,356 v (2017 ) 8,816, +6.13%;
• Light commercial vehicles sales total February:
(2018 ) 2,634 v (2017 ) 2,487, +5.91%;
• Heavy goods vehicle total sales year to date:
(2018 ) 646 v (2017 ) 726, -11.02%;
• Heavy goods vehicle sales total:
February (2018 ) 243 v (2017 ) 270, -10%;
• Used car imports year to date:
(2018 ) 17,964 v (2017 ) 15,317, +17.3%;
• Used car imports total
February: (2018 ) 8,903 v (2017 ) 7,785, +14.4%;
• Five top selling car brands year to date were:
1. Toyota, 2 Hyundai, 3 Volkswagen, 4 Ford, 5 Nissan;
• Top car models year to date were: 1. Hyundai Tucson, 2 Nissan, Qashqai, 3 Ford Focus, 4 Skoda Octavia, 5 VW Golf;
• Top selling car February: Skoda Octavia.
