What's the news?
Sales of new cars in Ireland remain down by ten per cent compared to last year, with sales in May falling by eight per cent compared to May of 2016. That's according to the Society of the Irish Motor Industry, whose Director General, Alan Nolan said: "With the first 5 months of the year now behind us, the decline in registrations across all sectors has been a noticeable trend reflecting the unpredictable nature of the market at present. As we near the end of the 171 registration period, there will undoubtedly be incentives to purchase a new car before the end of June. Notwithstanding this the Industry and consumers are turning their focus to the second registration plate, which since its introduction has seen the proportion of the full year market occurring in the second half of the year increasing significantly. This year we will again see each brand offer innovative packages to encourage the purchase of new 172 cars. The Wexford Motor Show taking place this weekend, and the Drogheda Motor Show taking place the weekend of the 16th of June, will give consumers the ideal opportunity to shop locally and ensure they can get the best possible deal on any new car."
It remains to be seen what sort of kick to sales the new registration period starting in July will have, but there is still a considerable amount of pre-registering going on towards the end of each Month. May 31st saw the lowest level yet of last-day sales for any month in 2017, with 599 cars registered, but that's still significantly above the best day of the rest of the month, May 16th, which saw 391 cars registered.
The Hyundai Tucson remains at the top of the best-selling cars list, followed by the Nissan Qashqai, Skoda Octavia, Volkswagen Golf, and Ford Focus. Volkswagen has stolen back to the top of the brands sales chart though, slipping ahead of Toyota in second place, and Hyundai in third, who were followed by Ford and Nissan.