The re-employment of 4,400 extra people in the Irish car trade because of the scrappage scheme was equivalent to the full employment of a company like Intel in Ireland, or Aer Lingus, the President of the Society of the Irish Motor Industry says.
Eddie Murphy, who is also MD of Ford Ireland, was speaking at the recent Annual Dinner of SIMI. He also noted that the incentive brought an additional €100m to the state in some 5,000 extra car sales in last year's total of 90,000 units.
But he said there was still a long way to go to reach the 150,000 units a year required to for a sustainable business. "Over the 10 years to 2008, the dealer community was selling an average of 550 cars a day," he said. "This year they will sell perhaps 250 cars a day, and dealer costs have literally ballooned, doubled if not trebled."
Because people will only begin buying new cars in the normal way when they feel that the economy as a whole is on the right path, Mr Murphy said the motor industry itself must play 'a constructive role' in putting the country right.
Eddie Murphy, who is also MD of Ford Ireland, was speaking at the recent Annual Dinner of SIMI. He also noted that the incentive brought an additional €100m to the state in some 5,000 extra car sales in last year's total of 90,000 units.
But he said there was still a long way to go to reach the 150,000 units a year required to for a sustainable business. "Over the 10 years to 2008, the dealer community was selling an average of 550 cars a day," he said. "This year they will sell perhaps 250 cars a day, and dealer costs have literally ballooned, doubled if not trebled."
Because people will only begin buying new cars in the normal way when they feel that the economy as a whole is on the right path, Mr Murphy said the motor industry itself must play 'a constructive role' in putting the country right.
