Figures released by the Society of the Irish Motor Industry show that total car sales for July were 16,464 — a 26 percent increase on the July 2007 figure.
Ford secured the number one position in the period with a sales total of 2,034 vehicles.
As expected, there was a significant increase in the number of diesel cars sold. This was particularly marked in the case of the Ford Focus which prior to July, would have just 10 percent diesel sales. Under the new tax regime the July sales of Focus were 85 percent diesel.
The shift to diesel saw Ford emerge as the best-selling car brand with 12.3 percent of the market, ahead of Toyota (10.8 percent) and BMW (9.9 percent).
