New car sales jump by 38% in August

New car sales rose by almost 40 per cent in August, when compared with the same month in 2013, as 6,201 cars were licensed during the month. However, the number of imported used cars fell by 3.3 per cent in the month to 4,278 over the same period.

According to the Central Statistics Office (CSO), which bases its figures on the number of vehicles being licensed in Ireland for the first time, there were 82,518 new private cars licensed in the year to the end of August 2014 in total, a rise of 30.3 per cent compared to the same period in 2013.

The number of used (imported) private cars was also up, standing at 36,758, an increase of 12.4 per cent from 2013.

Volkswagen was the most popular car brand in August, accounting for 13 per cent (831) of all sales, followed by Ford (574), Toyota (491) and Nissan (473). Ford (615 sales) was the most popular brand for second hand imported cars, followed by Volkswagen (590).

On an annual basis, Volkswagen was again the most popular car, with 9,979 sales. It was followed by Toyota (8,838); Ford (8,303); and Hyundai (6,880).

New car sales rose by over 50 per cent in July, when the 142 car plate was introduced.