New car sales figures for January expected to show registrations up over 40%

New car sales figures for January, due to be released today, are expected to show that registrations are up over 40 per cent compared to the same month last year.

Provisional figures up to the end of trading on Thursday, January 30th, show that 20,093 new cars were registered, compared to 14,445 over the same 30-day period in 2013. Toyota was the top brand for new car sales, according to the statistics from Motorcheck.ie, the online used car history service.

The Japanese car brand had recorded 2,680 cars in the first 30 days of the 141 registration plate, well ahead of Volkswagen with 2,203, followed by Hyundai in third place with 2,116. Ford has slipped to fourth position with 1,958, but had a significant lead on Skoda in fifth place with 1,441. The VW-owned brand is ahead of Opel in sixth spot. In the premium segment Audi held a lead over BMW.

While the year-on year increase in sales was nearly 40 per cent by last Thursday, the rise is expected to be even more significant when registrations from the last day of the month are included. Car firms and dealers traditionally register cars to themselves – known as pre-registrations – on the last days of the month to meet bonus targets and the like.