Inside the industry with Michael McAleer
• Car sales to September this year were down 5.46 per cent on the same period last year. Sales were at 147,286 for the nine months to September, compared with 155,791 to September last year. The figures are unlikely to improve significantly before the end of year, as dealers and motorists prepare for the annual New Year registration run, where over 30,000 cars are sold in January.
• Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said he discussed a restructuring of loss-making Fiat in discussions with the group's chairman, Paolo Fresco, at a meeting last Thursday. When asked if the restructuring plan involved GM, which owns 20 per cent of the loss-making Fiat Auto unit and could be required to buy it out under an option held by Fiat, Berlusconi said he could not respond. Monday's Financial Times reported that Fiat Auto are due to announce a series of redundancies this afternoon.
• Publican Rita Cantwell has the oldest Fiesta in Ireland. Cantwell, from Co Laois was the winner of the search for Ireland's oldest Fiesta, and bought her SCI 116 reg Fiesta from local Ford dealer Perrys of Athy in spring 1977. Her prize was the opportunity to buy a brand new Ford Fiesta for the same price she paid over 25 years ago for her original model - which she continues to drive to and from her pub, Nolans, in Ballylinan. The search unearthed several cars still in working order from the initial launch in 1977, when the purchase price was just £2,365 (€3,003), significantly less than today's prices, which begin at €14,395.
• Perhaps it's a sign of things to come in the Irish market, but according to Glass's Guide, the British motor industry "bible", smaller used-car dealerships in Britain have been driven out of business by tighter legislation, higher ground rents and the affordability of younger cars. Recent research shows that the price of a new car in Britain relative to average earnings has fallen by 30 per cent since 1998. Glass's says that the 2-4 year-old age range is now the busiest sector of the used-car market and that the average age of the British car is reducing from 6.9 years at the end of December 2001 to 6.8 years in June this year.
• Ireland is to be the first country in Europe to get Nissan's new Micra, launched at the Paris motor show last month. The new Micra will go on sale here from January 1st, aimed at catching some of the 03-registration sales rush. According to Gerard O'Toole, chairman of Nissan Ireland, the Micra is targetting a 4 per cent market share.
• The National Safety Council has launched the Irish Road Safety Endeavour Awards for 2003. This is the second year of the awards programme, which seeks to acknowledge individuals and organisations who have contributed to the promotion of road safety in Ireland.