Following the introduction of the new 132 registration plate in July, another healthy month of car sales has been reported by SIMI (Society of the Irish Motor Industry). In total 3,698 cars were registered in the month of August - an increase of 20% over the same month in 2012. The big performers were Volkswagen (which registered the most vehicles) followed by Toyota and Ford, while the best performing model overall last month was the BMW 5 Series. Overall this year, the Volkswagen Golf has been the most successful model and is followed by the Nissan Qashqai and the Ford Focus.
Despite the increase in market activity in July and August, the year as a whole is still down by almost 8% - a figure that could increase as sales drop off ahead of the 141 plate in January and a Budget, which is due in around seven weeks.
Year-to-date, 65,544 new cars have been registered in Ireland, while in the business world, 818 new vans and light commercial vehicles (an increase over 2012 of 109) and 197 new trucks (HGVs) versus 112 the previous year. Ford has been the most popular brand of van while on the truck side of things Volvo has seen the highest number of registrations.
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Commenting on the figures, Alan Nolan, SIMI Director General said "With the Budget only seven weeks away, we'll be asking the Minister to construct a Budget that encourages consumer spending and we will be putting forward proposals on incentives that will help increase new car sales and their associated tax revenues."