Figures released by the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) this week show that 74,111 new cars were sold in the first seven months of 2010. This is up 47 percent from the same period last year.
The new figures show that emissions Band B was the most popular for new car sales with 44 percent emitting between 121- and 140g/km of CO2. Added to Band A and Band C, the first three bands now account for 88 percent of new cars sold so far this year. The Volkswagen Golf was the best selling model for the month of July with 218 sales. Renault and Skoda were second and third with the Mégane and Octavia selling 193 and 179 respectively. The Ford Focus is the number one selling model in 2010 with 3,331 sales representing over four percent market share. Ford has a second model, the Fiesta, in the top three selling models for 2010 with the Volkswagen Golf in between them in second place.
High emitting cars in Band G (over 225g/km) have seen the sharpest decline, falling by 58 percent this year. Cars in this band now represent less than one percent of the market share. Diesel cars continue to out-sell petrol two to one - a trend that started in July 2008 when the new emissions-based car tax system was introduced.
An interesting observation from the latest figures is the continuing high number of used cars being imported into the country from abroad. So far this year, 26,432 have been presented for first registration in the state, down 25 percent from 2006. But, as a percentage (35.66) of new car sales this figure is amongst the highest in Europe.
For the full SIMI July National Vehicle Registration Statistics 2010 please click here.