NEW CAR sales in October were down 54.4 per cent on the same month last year, with just 1,748 new cars sold. Overall, the new car market for the year was down 18.3 per cent at 150,790.
Industry figures are no longer confident that sales next year will reach earlier estimates of 120,000.
The Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) has said it does not "have confidence" that earlier revised expectations of 120,000 new car sales for 2009 will be reached.
Some importers are suggesting new car sales may be even as low as 100,000 for next year and may even fall below that.
According to Tom Cullen, corporate services director of SIMI, no franchise dealer had yet been forced out of business, but noted talk in the industry of pressure from the banks. He said profit from new car sales was dependent on volumes and targets, which set commission rates.
He said: "Customers for second-hand cars are finding loans difficult [ to get] and hanging on to older cars. If the banks won't approve loans the car industry faces a difficult time". And the latest revised number for new car sales in 2009? "We just don't know," said Cullen.