The SIMI (Society of the Irish Motor Industry ) is urging the Government not to increase motor related taxes in the upcoming budget.
Figures released from the SIMI show that while new car sales are up five per cent on last year, sales for September declined by 35 per cent compared to the same month last year.
Alan Nolan, director general of SIMI, said: “We are clearly seeing some fall-off since the ending of the scrappage scheme in June, however, what’s more worrying is the weakness in the underlying market. This time last year we had scrappage which accounted for 18 per cent of new cars sold in September however, even stripping those cars out, this September has been very poor for sales.
“While nearly 34,000 people benefited from Scrappage, there are two million cars on our roads and many of these people are finding it difficult to fund the running costs of their car; from road tax to fuel. This is very apparent to us as the fall-off in essential maintenance of cars underlines the fact that consumers are not spending even in respect of basic and essential running costs. Any additional increase in motor related taxation would impact very negatively on the motorist, on jobs, and consequently on Government revenues.”
