New Car Sales Down 1.75% in January, Used Imports Surge
New car sales in January 2017 have decreased slightly on last year with 39k units sold compared to 39.7k units in January 2016 according to figures released by vehicle history specialists Motorcheck.ie on Wednesday. This represents a drop of about 1.75%. A surge of 5,063 units registered on the last day of the month brought the figures almost into line with last year as manufacturers looked to hit their targets.
The report also shows that the imports of used cars have risen 67%, which Motorcheck.ie attribute to Brexit and exchange rates.
Hyundai continues to reinforce its rise to popularity by becoming the nation’s top selling make in January with the Hyundai Tucson again dominating the crossover SUV segment and continuing its reign at the top as Ireland’s best-selling new car overall.
The commercial sector was similar with 6.3k units sold compared to 6.5k for the same month last year, a drop of almost 2.5%.
Motorcheck.ie Managing Director Michael Rochford said: “it was predicted that this year’s new car sales would be on a par or even slightly down on last year. It is evident early on that equalling last year’s performance is going to be a challenge for the Motor Trade in Ireland this year. Due to Brexit and current exchange rates the surge in Used Cars imported from the UK has continued with over 7.5k units being imported in Jan 2017. That’s an increase of over 67% on last year. This effects new car sales as many consumers will opt for a bigger used car or one with a better spec rather than buying new. However, consumers need to beware as we have seen an increase in clocked and written off cars being imported to Ireland in recent times”.
The report names the top selling manufacturers as Hyundai, Toyota, Ford, Volkswagen and Nissan, while the top selling models were the Hyundai Tucson, Ford Focus, Ford Fiesta, Nissan Qashqai, and Volkswagen Golf.
For light commercial sales the top selling manufacturers were Ford, Volkswagen, Renault, Toyota and Peugeot while the top selling models were the Ford Transit, Volkswagen Caddy, Ford Transit Connect, Toyota Landcruiser and Citroen Berlingo.
