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Car history expert Cartell.ie has found that, while the fluctuating value of the Euro versus Sterling can have an effect on the number of cars being brought into Ireland from the UK, it's not as significant a driver of import levels as had been thought.
In the past 12 months, as the price of Sterling jumped from €1.25 to €1.39, there has been a large drop-off in cars being imported from the UK (of 11 per cent), but this seems to be an anomaly. The average price for Sterling since June 2008 was €1.20, and during that 90-month period the average number of cars being imported from the UK was 4,908.
Cartell.ie's research showed that, for half of those 90 months, Sterling cost less than €1.20, falling as far as €1.10 for some months, yet this did not trigger a mad scramble for imported UK cars. In fact, only in half of those 45 months did the monthly figure for imports go above the average. Imports also held up well during the dark days of 2009, when new car sales fell to just 54,000 units. Almost as many cars were imported from the UK that year as were bought new.
In the 38 months out of 90 where Sterling was trading above €1.20, there was little or no evidence of Irish buyers holding back from shopping across the water. For 24 months out of those 38, import numbers were above the monthly average.
John Byrne, Legal and Public Relations Manager, Cartell.ie, said: "the results are interesting and tend to show there is a core market in Ireland for vehicle imports which is relatively insensitive to fluctuations in sterling value - even when it moves quite a bit from its average of €1.20. There is a limit though and our analysis tends to show the limit is pitched around €1.30. At that price the value of sterling appears to be a factor in a normalised trading environment: potential importers often find any "profit" from purchasing abroad is wiped out by the prevailing exchange rate. On the other side of the coin the results show there is no strong evidence of a rush to imports when sterling prices are below average. Consumers are also advised to check the history of the vehicle before importing."