Car sales in County Clare have increased by 20.87% so far in 2016.
Official 162 car registrations for the month of August nationally show an increase of 14% (7,313) when compared to August 2015 (6,400), while the total new car sales are up 19% (138,538) compared to the same period last year (116,195).
Within the business sector commercial vehicles are continuing to perform well with Light Commercial Vehicles (LCV) up 11% (1,815 ) on the same month last year (1,642) and currently, year to date, are up 22% (24,545) overall. While Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) registrations, are also up 49% for the month of August (251) 2016 when compared to August last year (169), with registrations up 41% year to date.
Already more cars have been sold in Clare this year in the first eight months than all of 2015. 3029 new vehicles have been purchased to date in 2016 while 2506 were bought last year.
Hyundai is the best selling make so far in 2016 followed by Toyota, Volkswagen, Ford, Nissan. Ireland’s most popular car model this year is the Hyundai Tucson. Other vehicles selling well include Volkswagen Golf, Ford Focus, Skoda Octavia and the Nissan Qashqai.
Commenting on the figurers SIMI Director General Alan Nolan said “The Motor Industry has been working hard to deliver the continuing level of growth in what has been a noticeably more difficult market since June. As we move toward the end of 3rd quarter of the year the Industry remains focused on business still to be done. In contrast with the era before the two-period registration system was introduced, when sales were all but finished in the first quarter, the interest in new vehicle sales now tends to carry to the end of the third quarter, but obviously at a lower rate.
“We believe the Industry is still on course to deliver close to 150,000 new car sales by the end of the year, indeed new car sales have already generated €1.2 Billion for the Exchequer in VRT and VAT receipts. Our Industry currently employs over 42,000 people nationwide and it is crucial that the provisions in the forthcoming Budget for 2017 support rather than undermine the State’s tax revenues and employment across the sector. Our Industry, like the rest of the domestic economy, needs stability and as much certainty as is possible to support consumer and business confidence, especially given concerns regarding Brexit, in order to support a continuation of the recovery and progress of the past few years.”