New car sales top 100,000 as Volkswagen returns to the lead

New car sales for the first six months surpassed 100,000 and are up 23 per cent on the same period last year.

Figures released by the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) on the first day of the new 162 registration plate show a total of 101,328 new cars were registered up to June 30th, up from 82,337 last year. Monthly registrations in June were 1,626, an increase of 12 per cent on the same month last year.

Volkswagen is the best-selling car brand on the Irish market, with 10,945 registrations, closely followed by Toyota with 10,807 and Hyundai in third with 10,448. Ford is in fourth place with 10,027. In the premium market Audi is in the lead with 4,706, ahead of BMW with 3,645 and Mercedes-Benz with 2,617.

Three brands have recorded a slump in sales so far this year: Citroën down 22.53 per cent, Subaru down 12.3 per cent; and Porsche down 1.96 per cent. All the other brands recorded growth.

Best sellers

The best selling model so far this year remains the new Hyundai Tucson with 5,124, followed by the Volkswagen Golf with 3,585 and the Ford Focus with 3,315. Of the premium models, the best-seller remains the BMW 5-Series with 1,041, ahead of the Audi A4 with 1,025.

Diesel remains the favoured option for new car buyers, making up 70.5 per cent of sales, followed by 27.5 per cent for petrol. Electric car sales continue to slump, down 8.6 per cent on last year at just 286 registrations over the first six months. However, there has been a growth in petrol-electric hybrid sales, up from 828 last year to 1,613.

The SIMI figures also show grey is the favourite colour for new cars this year, followedby by black, silver and then white.

Commercial sales

Registration of commercial vehicles - a bellwether for economic activity - continues to show strong growth. Sales of light commercial vehicles are up 26 per cent so far this year at 18,417. While the monthly registration of heavy good vehicles dipped in June to 112 from 157 in the same month last year, registrations for the year to date are up 42 per cent.

According to SIMI director general, Alan Nolan: "At the start of the year we predicted that this year's registration numbers should reach 150,000 for the first time since 2008 and these figurers keep us on track to deliver that. From today of course the focus turns to the 162 registration period. This year promises to be the first normal year of registrations since the recession and with the range of attractive offers available across all brands we are confident that 162 will also deliver in the coming months."