Official statistics released by the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI ) show that the total new car registrations for the month of October have fallen 11.2 per cent (1,725 ) when compared to the same period in 2017 (1,943 ). Registrations year to date are also down 4.4 per cent (124,809 ) on the same period last year (130,491 ).
New light commercial vehicle registrations (LCV ) have increased by 14.1 per cent (998 ) on October 2017 (875 ) and are up 5.9 per cent (24,779 ) year to date, while new heavy commercial vehicles (HGV ) have increased 13.2 per cent for the month of October (129 ) when compared to the same month last year (114 ) and are up 4.8 per cent (2,460 ) year to date.
Imported used cars have shown an increase 7.45 per cent for the month of October 2018 (9,141 ) when compared to the same period last year (8,507 ), while year to date are 8.95 per cent (86,418 ) ahead of the 2017 figure (79,320 ).
Commenting on the figures, Brian Cooke, SIMI director general designate, said: “It comes as no surprise that new car registrations are down again this month, in line with the trend in the market so far this year. While the domestic economic backdrop continues to be positive, as evidenced by the increase in commercial vehicle registrations this year, the impact of Brexit and the associated weakness of sterling has seen an increase in the volume of used imports, which has been to the detriment of the new car market.”
