Mercedes man hits out at pre registrations

New A-Class

Some car brands in Ireland are building market share on a ‘house of cards’ that will collapse one day, the passenger car sales manager of Mercedes-Benz Ireland said this week, writes Trish Whelan.

Ciaran Allen was commenting on the high level of pre registrations which he said seem to happen at the end of every month prior to the registration figures being published.

“Some seem to be willing to invest millions in a false market share,” he said “but when that house of cards falls, casualties will happen.”

Ciaran Allen

He also suggested that there has been too much reliance for market share on the hire-car business in 2013 which, he said, was at 20 percent of total registrations compared to a normal 11 percent. Looking to 2014, Ciaran Allen said Mercedes-Benz figures ‘will always be close to the real market’.

He was bullish about how Mercedes-Benz will perform in Ireland in 2014, and is forecasting a 45 percent increase in car sales of their own brand. This is due to the availability of a number of new cars aimed at the younger marketplace which have been coming on stream over the last two-and-a-half years. They include the A and B-Class, and the CLA coupe. He added that there will also be a significant rise in Mercedes-Benz as an affordable first car for many when pre-owned examples of the new A and B-Class become available on forecourts in two or three years time.