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Research by Cartell.ie has shown that the average age of an Irish car has fallen by more than two months since 2017
According to the latest figures, the average Irish car is now 8.55 years old, which represents a decline of 68 days since the figures for the end of 2017 were released. The driver of this reduction in the average age? Quelle surprise, it's imports. The age of the national fleet of imported cars is now at its lowest level since 2010.
In fact, between February 2018 and February 2019, the average age of an imported car on Irish roads fell from 9.0 years to 8.76 years, a decline of 88 days, which is almost three months.
In the same period, the age of the 'native' fleet (the cars sold originally through Irish dealerships from Irish importers) fell from 8.57 years to 8.48 years, which is a decline of 32 days.
John Byrne, General Counsel, Cartell.ie, told us: "A lot has been said lately about imported vehicles. The results of this analysis show the average Irish buyer importing a vehicle is evidently opting for a younger vehicle than before and this is bringing down the age of both the imported fleet and the combined fleet, native and imported. In January 2015 Cartell released data which showed the age of the private fleet in Ireland had levelled-off significantly for the first time in over 10 years - supporting our view the market was then going into recovery."
That recovery is tilted heavily in favour of imports, though, as can be seen from the figures. If the average age of imports is falling faster than the average age of the native fleet, then it means that more newer cars are being brought in privately. The inescapable conclusion from that is that more buyers are shunning new cars from Irish dealers, and instead plumping for nearly-new models from the UK.