New car registrations in January are 31 percent (29,948) up on January 2014 which should see sales well exceed 100,000 at the end of the year, for the first time since 2008.
Current Industry projections indicate that they could be close to 115,000 with Light Commercials sales, currently up by 71 percent (4,839) in January set to exceed 20,000, again for the first time since 2008. HGV registrations are down 37 percent down on last year.
The top selling car brands were Toyota, Volkswagen, Ford, Hyundai, and Nissan; the top selling models were the VW Golf, Ford Focus, Toyota Corolla, Ford Fiesta and Hyundai IX35. The top selling van was the Ford Transit van.
They showed that the Motor Industry contributed €965 million to the Exchequer in 2014 from car sales and that employment was up 10.1 percent with 3,800 new jobs created. Petrol prices were down 7.5 percent, diesel prices down 9.6 percent while Insurance Costs were up 11.6 percent.
Economist Jim Power, author of the Review, is more optimistic about 2015 forecasting the new car market at 120,000. He believes that 2,600 new jobs will be created in the Industry this year. SIMI President James Brooks said he hoped that the improved business environment and the continued support of the Government will let the Motor Industry rebuild itself and will aid its recovery further in 2015.
Cathal Cremen of DoneDeal said in 2014 over 320,000 cars were advertised and sold on DoneDeal.
The review also highlighted the average age of cars on Irish roads, with over a third of the cars being over 10 years old, 40.5 percent of cars are between 5 and 10 years old, while only 24 percent of cars on Irish roads are 5 years, or younger.
The VW Golf was the most searched used car, '2008' the most searched used car year (DoneDeal).
Pictured at today's launch were Cathal Cremen, Commercial Manager DoneDeal; James Brooks, SIMI President; Jim Power, Economist; and Alan Nolan, Director General SIMI.
