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Registrations of new cars in Ireland continued their downward trend in November, with another nine per cent drop compared to the same period in 2016.
Just 687 cars were registered in November, compared to 754 in the same period last year. Registrations had been down by a more significant 15 per cent up to the last couple of days of the month, which suggests that there is still a level of pre-registering of cars in the market.
That puts the total registrations to date this year at 131,200 cars, ten per cent down on 2016, and that figure is unlikely to dramatically increase through December as the motor trade winds up for the January new registration period. Light commercial and van registrations were down by 12 per cent in November, and 14 per cent for the year.
The top-selling car for the month of November was the Volkswagen Golf, while the Hyundai Tuscon still holds the number-one selling spot for the year overall, followed by the Golf, the Nissan Qashqai, the Skoda Octavia, and the Ford Focus.
Volkswagen currently holds the top-selling brand spot, followed by Toyota, Ford, Hyundai, and Nissan.
Used Imports continue to remain ahead with registrations for the month of November up eight per cent to 7,952 while year to date they are 32 per centahead of 2016 at a total of 87,929.
Commenting on the figures SIMI Director General, Alan Nolan stated: "As we approach the final few weeks of 2017, total registrations look set to finish in line with Economist Jim Power's projection of 131,650 representing a decline of 10 per cent on 2016. This has been a year of uncertainty for the Industry, as we experience the Brexit impact. Sterling weakness is contributing to increases in used vehicle imports which continue to influence used car values making Irish used cars cheaper but increasing the cost to change for car buyers which has impacted on new car volumes.
"Although new car registrations have declined and are likely to decline again in 2018, the Industry overall has had what can be described as a reasonable year when considering previous registration totals in recessionary years. Looking towards 2018 Industry focus on the EV sector will increase. The 0 per cent Benefit-in-kind incentive over three-to-five years announced by the Government is hugely welcomed and will help increase the supply of EVs in the future years. While all vehicle fuel types continue to play an important role in the make up of our car parc, the replacement of older polluting cars remains a priority if we are to meet our climate change targets."