Hyundai best-seller in Ireland as total new car sales up 35%

Hyundai remains the best-selling new car brand in Ireland after two months of sales in 2016. The total new car market was 21,625 in February, bringing the total number of new registrations this year to 61,350. That's a 34.6 per cent increase on the same two-month period last year.

The Korean brand recorded 7,109 new 161 registrations, 200 ahead of Toyota wiht 6,909, according to statistics from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry. Ford is in third place with 6,414 registrations followed by Volkswagen with 6,253. Audi remains the best-selling premium brand with 2,447 sales, ahead of BMW with 2,035 and Mercedes with 1,380.

The best-selling car remains the recently launched Hyundai Tucson, with 3,615 new registrations over the first two months of 2016, ahead of the Ford Focus with 2,224 and the Volkswagen Golf with 2,072.

Diesel remains the most popular engine choice, representing 72 per cent of all sales, but hybrids are increasing their share, while electric cars made up 175 new registrations so far this year.

Speaking at the Geneva Motor Show, Toyota Ireland chief executive said that uncertainty over the future government may affect consumer sentiment in the second quarter but he still expects the new car marke to exceed 150,000 by the end of the year.