Official figures released by SIMI show that 70,103 new cars have been sold so far this year. At the start of the year, SIMI predicted that, with the assistance of the scrappage scheme, 70,000 new cars would be sold for the entire year.
Commenting on the milestone, SIMI's Press Officer, Suzanne Sheridan said, "With such an abysmal year last year, we knew that even an increase of around 20% on last year, or 70,000 new car sales, would help the industry get back on its feet. We had hoped that scrappage would boost new car sales but the result has exceeded our expectations. Scrappage doesn't just mean additional revenue for the Exchequer, there is a direct relationship between new car sales and employment. With this upturn in business, garages can start to re-employ staff they had to let go last year. We're not out of the woods yet but there certainly an increase in consumer confidence in our industry and the wider economy."