New car registrations remain 'steady'

OFFICIAL statistics released today by the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) show that the total new car registrations for the month of February were steady.

Registrations last month (17,081) were very much in line with February 2017 (17,089), while new cars registrations year to date remain down 3.5% (54,143) on the same period last year (56,092).

In Mayo, 973 vehicles have been registered so far this year compared to 1,114 in the same period last year, a drop of 12.66%.

The new commercial vehicle sector showed a mixed result. New light commercial vehicle (LCV) registrations were up 6.13% (2,634) on February 2017 (2,487) and year to date are up 6% (9,356), while new heavy commercial vehicles (HGV) have declined 10% for the month of February (243) compared to the same month last year (270) and are down 11% (646) year to date.

Imported used cars increased by 14.4% in February (8,903) and year to date are 17.3% (17,964) ahead of 2017 (15,317).

Commenting on the figures, SIMI director general Alan Nolan stated: “New car registrations for the month of February delivered a steady performance when compared with the same month last year, with registrations overall remaining 3.5% down year to date.

“The increase in the light commercial vehicle sector reflects the strong economic growth for businesses, particularly in the local economy, while HGVs, which may be more impacted by Brexit concerns, remain down 11%. The Brexit impact is also visible in the continued growth in used car imports.”

The diesel market share is continuing to move back toward more traditional levels in new car sales. Having reached a high peak of 73% in 2014, it is currently standing at 57% so far in 2018. As a consequence of this shift, as SIMI had previously indicated, the average CO2 emissions for new cars registered this year have increased by 2.1%.

The top selling marque so far this year is Toyota, while the Hyundai Tuscon remains the most popular model year to date.