Those who find themselves in the lucky position to be purchasing a new car this January will notice the new 131 number plate which takes effect from this week.
Instead of the traditional 13-MO number plate, the new number plate will be 131-MO.
Speaking on Wednesday Alan Nolan, director general of SIMI, commented: “While it is too early to tell how new car sales are doing, given that today is only the first day of sales, there certainly has been a lot of interest from the public in the new number plate. Only time will tell what impact the new plate might have on sales but we expect demand to increase when we begin to see new cars on the road.”
This new format will be in place each year from now on.
In addition, the SIMI has just released new car sales figures for 2012. New car sales were down 12 per cent on 2011 at 79,498, in line with predictions. December new car sales are down 15 per cent on December 2011.
“The motor industry is often used as a barometer for the economy and we hope, with consumer confidence seeing some slight pick up of late, combined with the new number plate, that interest will grow in the coming weeks,” said Mr Nolan
