Some 11,621 new cars were sold in July under the new 132 number plate as against 4,410 last year. This was the third highest month for car sales this year, second only to March by 55 units.
The results mean that the unprecedented drop in June of 73 percent was rectified bringing the combined total for June and July in at 13,284, 24 percent over the same period last year.
The 132 number plate has certainly made its mark and introduced a significant boost for new car sales at a time when it is badly needed. Hopefully this trend will continue into 2014 and beyond.
Motorcheck's statistics show sales for the year-to-date now total 64,618, 9 percent behind the same period in 2012 which was 70,774.
Top selling brands in July were Ford 1,695 (15%), Volkswagen 1,491 (13%), Toyota 1,079 (9%), Hyundai 948 (8%), Opel 943 (8%), Nissan 731 (6%), Skoda 653 (6%), Audi 490 (4%), Kia 457 (4%), and Renault 449 (4%).
Only one unit separated the Ford Focus and the Volkswagen Golf from the top spot with 625 & 624 sales respectively. However the Volkswagen Golf remains Ireland's most popular model this year with 3,298 (5.1 percent of the total market) units sold. The Nissan Qashqai is in second place with 2,815 (4.3%) units registered whilst the Ford Focus takes third position with 2,563 (3.9%) registrations.
