Ford: Full year market set to hit 100k

Transit

A buoyant January market has put Ireland firmly on course for 100,000 new car and commercial vehicle sales in 2014, according to figures released by the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI).

The combined new vehicle market for January 2014 was 26,078 units, with the car market up by 33 percent on last year and the commercial sector up by 40 percent. A total of 22,913 new cars were registered in January while 3,165 new commercial vehicles were sold.

In a very tight market where only 320 units separate the top three brands, Ford is the only manufacturer to have two models - Focus and Fiesta - in the top five selling cars. In addition, the Ford Transit was the best-selling commercial vehicle range. With sales of 603 units, Ford was the overall CV market leader for January - a feat the company has achieved for 24 of the last 25 years - ahead of VW (522 units) and Renault (259 units). Ford saw its combined vehicle volume (cars and CVs) grow by 27 percent during the month.

Ford Ireland chief Eddie Murphy (pictured) says the commercial vehicle market is a good indicator of how the wider business sector is performing, so in that context an increase in sales of 40 percent tells a very positive story." He said businesses, especially SMEs, are investing in their fleets and that's a great sign.

The top selling cars in January were: 1. VW Golf (1,147); 2. Toyota Corolla (872); 3. Ford Focus (861); 4. Hyundai ix35 (773); 5. Ford Fiesta (746).