Ireland Posts Strong First Half, More of Same Expected
June car sales were down, but industry executives say that’s because buyers were waiting for second-half 2015 license plates and manufacturer incentives to come.
Irish first-half car sales jumped 25% year-on-year to 82,337 units, and the industry predicts the good news will continue for the rest of the year.
The Society of the Irish Motor Industry says new car deliveries fell 14% in June to 1,449 units as buyers awaited the first new registration plate issued from July 1.
Light-commercial-vehicle sales jumped 52% year-on-year to 801 in June for a first-half total up 56% to 14,600 units.
SIMI Deputy Director General Brian Cooke says the first half has been a positive news story for the industry and “we expect that this will continue for the remainder of the year.
“Car registrations have shown strong growth, and while car sales for the month of June are down on last year, this is not surprising considering that many customers (were) waiting for the arrival of the new 152 plate,” he says in a statement.
The “15” designates the year and the “2” the second half of the year.
Cooke says manufacturers and dealers have been busy promoting their 152 incentives, in preparation for increased activity expected with the arrival of the new plate.
“Industry projections indicate that new car sales are set to soar to 120,000 by the end of the year, and it is expected growth will continue into next year also,” Cooke says.
The small-standard car segment dominates the market with 25,028 units.
Volkswagen led the new-car market at the half way stage, with 10,425 units, ahead of Toyota (8,866), Ford (7,963), Hyundai (7,558) and Nissan (7,356).
The VW Golf leads the pack with 3,897 units, followed by the Ford Focus (3,017), Nissan Qashqai (2,707) and Skoda Octavia (2,509).
Cooke says the increase in business and consumer confidence is evident within the LCV sector, where SIMI is expecting full-year sales to top 20,000 units for the first time since 2008.
Ford maintained its lead in the LCV segment with first-half sales up 70.3% to 3,814 units. Its nearest rival, VW, rose 57.8% to 2,351 units.
Ford’s Transit van topped the segment up 70.9% to 1,861 units, ahead of the VW Caddy, rising 17.9% to 1,092 units.
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