According to the SIMI, diesels now account for 52 percent of all cars sold, compared to just 32 percent last year. However, Ford Ireland's MD Eddie Murphy says this actually downplays the shift, as dealers are still disposing of large stocks of petrol models from before the tax change. "If the Ka- and Fiesta–size models are taken out, the market mix is over 90 percent diesel," he says.
The most popular model in Ireland’s best-selling car range, the Ford Focus, is now the 1.6 diesel, displacing the 1.4 petrol. More than three quarters of all cars sold this year, and close to 90 percent of all Fords sold were in the A-C CO2 bands.
He said the trend makes a scrappage scheme even more a good idea. "Already the average emissions of cars sold is down from 162g in 2008 to 142g this year. That’s a saving of almost half a ton of CO2 per car per year. A scrappage scheme would help accelerate this much-needed reduction in emissions.”
