Ireland New-Car Sales Jump 183.1% in July

Ireland’s new-car buyers, lured by a new split-year number plate system, swamped dealer salesrooms and pushed July sales up 183.1% to 11,840 units.

There were 864 more cars sold last month than in June-July 2012 combined. The Society of the Irish Motor Industry says it was the best July result since 2008, prior to the start of the global recession.

SIMI Director General Alan Nolan says deliveries of cars with the new 132 plate have exceeded the industry's expectations.

“We have consistently said that this is a long-term project, seeking to shift some activity into the second half of the year, and honestly we expected it would take a number of years for car buyers to embrace,” Nolan says in a statement.

“In reality though, there was huge interest from the public in the new number plate from the very start, and this has translated into a very strong level of sales during the month.”

Nolan says the value of the new plate even has been recognized by commercial-vehicle buyers, with heavy- and light-commercials deliveries posting healthy increases in July.

“While this very strong July boost does not turn a poor year into a good one, it shows that the 2-period registration system does at least allow us to make some recovery from a poor start,” he says, noting the society is predicting sales to grow more than 25% in the year’s second half compared with 16% in like-2012.

SIMI data shows Ford was the big winner in July, up 234.1% to 1,687 units. Volkswagen followed, up 130.9% to 1,503, and Toyota was third, up 120.6% to 1,092.

The Ford Focus was the pacesetter, with deliveries jumping 332.4% to 627 units for the month; ahead of the VW Golf, up 159.7% to 618, and the Ford Fiesta, up 262.9% to 519.

July marked the first monthly year-on-year sales gain in 2013 and boosted the 7-month total to 64,866 units, down 8.8% from prior-year’s 71,142. The result vastly improved on the first-half result, which fell 20.2% compared with like-2012.

SIMI Deputy Director General Brian Cooke says the split-number plate change left dealers extremely busy. Many were reporting showroom footfall at January levels, traditionally the busiest month of the year for sales.

 “It's positive to see not only the sale of new cars well ahead of July 2012, but also commercial vehicle activity up, which is often a sign of increased business activity,” Cooke says in a statement.

Through the first seven months, VW was the new-car market leader, down 8.2% from year-ago to 8,233 units. Toyota followed, down 23.9% to 6,845, ahead of Ford, down 13.1% to 6,747.

Fourth-place Hyundai was one of only two auto makers in the top 10 to show a gain, up 16.0% to 5,248 units. Kia finished in ninth place, up 89.2% to 2,939.

The VW Golf leads the Irish market with 7-month sales up 7.4% to 3,241 units, followed by the Nissan Qashqai, down 8.9% to 2,817. The Focus was third, down 24.7% to 2,567 s, ahead of its smaller sibling, the Fiesta, up 9.2% to 2,137.

The light-commercial vehicle market surged 58.3% in July to 1,301 units with Ford leading the way, up 107.6% to 301. VW was second, up 3.5% to 264, ahead of Renault, up 98.1% to 103, and Toyota, up 20.0% to 102.

The result left the 7-month LCV total down 3.7% to 8,221 units, with Ford on top and up 3.4% to 1,879, ahead of VW, down 9.1% to 1,584.