Ford tempts buyers to 'Clean it up for 181'

Ford is offering up to €6,000 discounts on some of its best-selling models under a 'Clean Up for 181' deal to take old and less efficient cars off the roads, writes Brian Byrne.

Extended warranties and a 0.0pc PCP offer are also part of a package of incentives to get people into new Ford cars in the new year.

The top reductions apply to Kuga ST-Line, Galaxy Titanium, and S-MAX Titanium+, while the Focus Titanium and ST-Line can attract discounts of up to €5,500 and €5,305 respectively.

The offer also extends to the brand's LCVs, with reductions of up to €4,000 on the Transit Van range and the Ranger pickup. The incentive means that all buyers will drive away vehicles which meet the latest Euro 6 emissions regulations.

The offer applies to vehicles ordered before December 31 2017.

Good 172 start but sales still down

Car sales in Ireland were 10pc down for the first half-year of 2017, according to figures from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry, writes Brian Byrne.

But a strong 172 performance in July cut that overall decrease to 9.36pc, with an outturn for the seven months of 118,925 units registered.

The forecast for the full year is 132,000 units.

The motor trade's representative body blamed uncertainty over Brexit as one factor in the drop, as well as increased housing, home rental, and health insurance costs eating at disposable income.

SIMI's review in association with Done Deal also noted that insurance costs for May 2017 were down 8.4pc compared to the same month in 2016, but still 43.9pc higher than in May 2014.

Much 'scaremongering' on PCPs is 'unjustified' — Motorcheck.ie

A lot of 'scaremongering' about Personal Contract Plan finance is unjustified, according to one of the main car history checking services, writes Brian Byrne.

Michael Rochford of Motorcheck.ie says PCPs are useful for consumers because they allow many people to enter into flexible car financing with low monthly repayments. "Like any finance agreement, however, the consumer must ensure they fully understand the terms and conditions before they enter into the agreement," he notes in a statement today on car finance statistics.

He adds that the current investigation of PCPs by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission is to be welcomed by the motor trade. "Anything that will help the consumer to fully understand PCP as a finance product will also help to strengthen the confidence of those customers who are suitable for this type of product. There is no doubt that PCP won’t suit everybody, but it’s actually a very good product for people with a predictable budget who want to change their car every three to five years."

The Motorcheck.ie statement reports that overall new car finance has increased by 139pc in three years to the end of 2016, and figures for 2017 to the end of June show that there is a 4% increase in cars being sold on finance for the first six months of this year.

"In 2014 a little under one third (32pc) of all new vehicles sold were financed.  Three years later in 2016 that figure has risen to 51pc of all new vehicles sold are under finance.  This has risen again slightly in the first six months of 2017 where we see that 54pc of vehicles sold have been financed."

Car sales trend downwards, but market 'buoyant'

New car registrations continue their downward trend, with the first half of the year market showing a drop of just over 10pc compared to 2016, writes Brian Byrne.

But according to car history check specialists Motorcheck.ie, the industry 'remains buoyant' and a 120,000 sales outlook for the full year is 'positive'.

The company also notes a 'booming' used car market, and with more cars in total on the road the service and maintenance sectors of the car trade are showing more 'positive trends.

In total, 90,893 cars were registered in the first six months of 2017.

Volkswagen registered the most, followed by Toyota, Hyundai, Ford and Nissan.

The top five models were Hyundai's Tucson, Nissan's Qashqai, Volkswagen's Golf, Skoda's Octavia and Ford's Focus.

Electric and hybrid vehicles now account for 3.7pc of the market.

Commercial vehicles registrations are also down, by 14pc to 18,889 units compared to the first half of 2016. The top selling commercial vehicles were the Ford Transit, VW Caddy, Renault Trafic, Ford Transit-Connect and Peugeot Partner.

Car registrations still down

At the end of the first five months of the year, new car registrations remain down by 10pc compared to the same trading period last year, writes Brian Byrne.

According to figures released by the Society of the Irish Motor Industry, registrations of light commercial vehjicles are also down, by 14pc.

The top registered brands are Volkswagen, Toyota, Hyundai, Ford and Nissan.

The top registered car models are Hyundai Tucson, Nissan Qashqai, Skoda Octavia, Volkswagen Golf and Ford Focus.

SIMI’s director general Alan Nolan says the figures reflect ‘the unpredictable nature of the market at present’.

Car sales stay down

Car sales year to date are down by 10pc and light commercial vehicles are down by 13pc, according to registration figures for the first four months of the year, writes Brian Byrne.

The top selling car brands are Toyota, Volkswagen, Ford, Hyundai and Nissan; and the top selling models are Hyundai's Tucson, Nissan's Qashqai, Skoda's Octavia, Ford's Focus and Volkswagen's Golf.

The director general of the Society of the Irish Motor Industry, Alan Nolan, says the year was already on track to be 'unpredictable' and that while the economy continued to strengthen, the consumers are being 'more cautious'.

He added that the industry was continuing to 'entice' consumers with very strong offers, and he noted that even with the lower sterling values as a result of Brexit, virtually no new cars had been imported.

Car sales dip continues

Car sales have dipped for the third month in a row, and the first quarter 2017 registrations are down by 8pc over the same period in 2016, writes Brian Byrne.

According to figures from car history service Motorcheck.ie, the figures for the month of March are down 7.5pc.

The top selling manufacturers were Toyota, Ford, Volkswagen, Hyundai and Nissan. The top selling models were the Hyundai Tucson, Nissan Qashqai, Ford Focus, Skoda Octavia and Volkswagen Golf.

Light Commercial Vehicles are down 10.66pc year to date over 2016.

Motorcheck's Michael Rochford says the industry is coming off three years of solid growth and it was generally considered that 2017 would see a levelling off.

"Annual growth of 30pc year-on-year was never going to be sustainable," he says in the service's monthly commentary on the state of the motor trade. He added that factors relating to the dip include uncertainty over Brexit, as well as the strength of the euro over sterling has also made it attractive to import used cars from the UK.

Used car imports for quarter one were 56pc higher than the first quarter of 2016.

Car sales dip

With a 21pc drop in sales of passenger cars in February 2017 compared to the same month last year, car registrations year to date are now 8.7pc down on 2016, writes Brian Byrne. Concerns that this was happening were flagged at the recent Annual Dinner of the Society of the Irish Motor Industry.

Statistics released this morning by Motorcheck.ie show that Toyota is now the leader in car registrations with 11pc market share, from Hyundai (10.7pc), Ford (9.9pc), Volkswagen (9.8pc) and Nissan (8.5pc). Renault, Skoda, Kia, Opel and Mercedes-Benz round out the top ten.

The car with most registrations to date remains the Hyundai Tucson, from Nissan’s Qashqai, Volkswagen’s Golf, Ford’s Focus and Skoda’s Octavia.

More cars were registered between 20-28 February 2017 than were in the first 20 days of the month, 9,014 against 8,001, to a total of 17,015 for the month.

“With almost 4,000 registered on the last day of February the message to the public is that this is a great time to go new car shopping,” says Michael Rochford, MD of Motorcheck.ie, “as dealers will want to unload these pre-registered vehicles to sustain the market.”

Alan Nolan, SIMI Director General, said the industry has been anticipating lower numbers in February compared to 2016, ‘with Brexit continuing to impact on used vehicle imports, with fewer working days this year and with less hire-drive cars because of a later Easter’. “But these numbers are somewhat poorer than we had hoped,” he said.

Registration of Light Commercial Vehicles are down 27.5pc in February compared to the same month last year.

New cars dip, used imports up

A surge in imports of used cars from Britain in January has contributed to a small drop in overall new car registrations in Ireland in January 2017, compared to the same month last year, writes Brian Byrne.

More than 7,500 imports in the month represented a 67pc increase in such sales, partly due to the more preferential sterling exchange rates since the devaluation of the £ against the € following the Brexit decision.

In the bigger picture, the 39,000 new cars registered this January represents a small 1.75pc drop compared to the same month in 2016, and was widely expected following several years of strong growth in the Irish car business.

More than 5,000 units were registered on the last day of the month, the usual pre-registration hunt by key brands to figure high in the ratings. While this might seem high, this practice is actually significantly higher in percentage terms in other markets, such as Germany.

The top registrations in brand terms in Ireland in January were Hyundai, Toyota, Ford, Volkswagen and Nissan.

The top selling models were the Hyundai Tucson, Ford Focus, Ford Fiesta, Nissan Qashqai, and Volkswagen Golf.

LCV registrations for Jan 2017 decreased 2.46pc with 6,394 units sold. The top selling manufacturers were Ford, Volkswagen, Renault, Toyota and Peugeot.

The top selling models were the Ford Transit, Volkswagen Caddy, Ford Transit Connect, Toyota Landcruiser and Citroen Berlingo.

Michael Rochford of Motorcheck.ie said that equalling last year’s performance is going to be a challenge for the Motor Trade in Ireland this year, and increased used imports will impact on new car sales as many consumers will opt for a bigger used car or one with a better spec rather than buying new.

"However, consumers need to beware," he warned, "as we have seen an increase in clocked and written off cars being imported to Ireland in recent times."

Car registrations 17.5pc up in 2016

New car registrations for 2016 were 17.5pc ahead of 2015, finishing out at 146,672, writes Brian Byrne.

The end of year figures also put Toyota as the biggest selling brand in Ireland for the year with 15,515 units, from Volkswagen (15,506) and Hyundai (15,421), with Ford (14,630) and Nissan (11,877) rounding out the top five.

The Hyundai Tucson (7,419) was the biggest selling model of the year, followed by Volkswagen's Golf (5,452), Ford's Focus (4,822), Skoda's Octavia (4,657) and Nissan's Qashqai (4,594).

During December, with a total of 499 cars registered, a 45pc boost over last year, Toyota dealers achieved 150 registrations between the 20th of the month and the end of the year, leapfrogging Volkswagen (+3) and Hyundai (+3) into top place for 2016 (figures from Motorcheck.ie).

Light commercial vehicles also showed an increase year on year, finishing out at 18.25pc above 2015, to 23,829.

Pictured is Toyota's latest offering, the C-HR compact crossover.

VW edges out Hyundai so far this year

An analysis of passenger car registrations in Ireland year to date shows Volkswagen (15,410 units) as a brand marginally ahead of Hyundai (15,366) and Toyota (15,128), writes Brian Byrne.

The figures to the end of October also show Ford (14,561) in a strong fourth place ahead of Nissan (11,835), Skoda (9,399), Renault (8,410), Opel (7,800), Kia (6,689) and Audi (5,955).

The biggest selling model of the year so far is Hyundai's Tucson (7,406), from VW's Golf (5,440), Ford's Focus (4,814, Skoda's Octavia (4,635) and Nissan's Qashqai (4,582).

Limiting the analysis to the 162 registration period has Hyundai (4,940) leading from Ford (4,555), Volkswagen (4,375), Toyota (4,326) and Nissan (3,438). The biggest selling models in this period are so far the Tucson (2,286), Golf (1,512), Focus (1,504), Qashqai (1,414) and Octavia (1,374).

Overall in the year, five brands — Volkswagen, Hyundai, Toyota, Ford and Nissan are responsible for half of all registrations, leaving the other half to be fought for between 27 other makes.

(Data extracted from MotorCheck.ie registration figures.)

Car sales slow, industry 'watches closely'

As the Irish motor trade enters the year's 'dead zone' of sales, total registrations of passenger cars are up by 18pc on last year, writes Brian Byrne.

Relatively few cars are sold in November and December, so the 145,433 units registered to date suggest that initial predictions for the year's outturn may not be achieved.

The rate of growth in the 162 period to date is just 7pc compared to the same period in 2015, and results published yesterday by the Society of the Irish Motor Industry show a net decrease of 12pc this October compared to last October.

"Whether this has been influenced by the Brexit situation or just a slowing of retail activity in the Irish economy, after a sustained period of growth, is not yet clear," says SIMI Director General Alan Nolan, "but this is something that the industry will be continuing to watch closely.”

Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV) registrations (27,347) are up 4,373 units or +19pc Year to Date, while registrations in the month of October (1,181) have seen a decrease of 23 units or -2pc in comparison to the same month last year (1,204).

Car sales up, but warning on Budget

Total car sales for the year to the end of September are 18pc ahead of the same period last year, at 143,205, writes Brian Byrne.

According to figures compiled by the Society of the Irish Motor Industry, light commercial vehicles are also maintaining an upward trend, at 26,171 being 20pc up on year to date.

However, the industry says care must be taken in the framing of next week’s Budget that it doesn’t negatively impact on economic growth.

SIMI says that consumer and business confidence are crucial to driving economic activity and has called for a budget that supports stability and lifts consumer confidence again.

The organisation has reminded Government that the motor industry employs 42,000 and collects in excess of €5bn in taxes for the state.

“Any negative decisions in the forthcoming Budget will directly impact on activity and on tax revenues in 2017,” warns Alan Nolan, SIMI’s Director General.

More car sales, but growth slows

New cars sales to date have already exceeded the total for 2015, writes Brian Byrne.

But the figures released today by the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) also confirm a noticeable slowdown in registrations, with the July figure just 8pc up on July of last year.

The level of registrations year to date at 131,264 units is 19pc ahead of the same period last year.

Light commercial vehicle sales at 22,746 units year to date are 23pc ahead of last year, but the July registrations are just 15pc ahead of July 2015.

Both July figures show that the mid-year registration ‘bump’ is not as strong as it has been in the previous years since it was introduced in 2013.

One reason for the slowdown suggested by SIMI is that the extremely high growth rates of recent years ‘must naturally slow’.

The organisations says a sustainable annual market figure for Ireland is between 150,000-160,000 units per annum.

It calls on the Government to have a Budget strategy focused on building consumer confidence and improving the business environment.

The top five brands for the year to date are 1 Hyundai, 2 Toyota, 3 Ford, 4 Volkswagen, and 5 Nissan. This compares to the table at this time last year of 1 Volkswagen, 2 Toyota, 3 Ford, 4 Hyundai, and 5 Nissan.

Car registrations continue to climb

With a continuing increase in car registrations through April, the total new cars registered year to date has reached 74,001, writes Brian Byrne.

That’s a 28pc improvement on the ... MORE

Used car sales up

Dealers are selling more used cars, but are importing less according to the Q1 report issued by SIMI, writes Trish Whelan.

Although imported used cars show a full of 41 percent (575), used car sales by the motor trade were up by ... MORE

Car registrations up 30%

New car registrations for the first three months of 2015 were up 30 percent compared to the same period in 2014, writes Trish Whelan.

New car registrations sold for the first three months of 2015 (64,716) are up 30 percent on the same period last year while sales of light commercial vehicles (LCVs) year to date at 9,990, are up 59 percent.

Commenting on the figures, SIMI Director General, Alan Nolan (pictured) said: "The increase in car registrations for March is a good reflection of the growing consumer confidence in the economy which is so important for the Industry." He said the most recent CSO Consumer Price Index had confirmed a reduction in the price of cars and in the cost of fuel, with petrol and diesel prices both down. "The position for consumers has also improved in relation to the availability of finance and a wider range of finance options."

The top five selling brands year to date were Volkswagen, Toyota, Ford, Hyundai and Nissan. The top five selling models this year so far are the Volkswagen Golf, Ford Focus, Nissan Qashqai, Toyota Corolla and Skoda Octavia.

Age of fleet levels off as car industry in recovery

The age of the private fleet in Ireland has levelled off significantly for the first time in over 10 years. The age of the private fleet now stands at 8.83 years.

Vehicle history company Cartell.ie tracked the average age of a private vehicle in Ireland in January of every year between 2000 and 2015.

They say the difference between the age of the fleet in January 2014 and January 2015 is the lowest increase recorded since 2001 and an indicator that the age of the private fleet in Ireland may have levelled off.

It is taken as a further sign that the vehicle industry is returning to normality. The result may have been spared by new car sales and owners of older vehicles in the fleet, who may have held them for as long as possible, are now up-cycling.

The age of the whole Irish fleet, not simply private vehicles, now stands at 9.39 years.

SsangYong Korando from €249 with 0% Finance

Bill Cullen Premier Cars are now offering 0% finance on selected SsangYong vehicles.

Bill says "We are committee to providing our customers with an affordable solution for purchasing their new personal or commercial vehicles. Contact us today for some information on our PCP finance deals on our range of SsangYong vehicles."

The dealership also has a large range of premier used cars available at their unit in Concorde Industrial Estate, Naas Road, Dublin.

All cars come fully serviced and valeted with valid NCT certificate and an appropriate warranty. They also accept trade ins.

Top 10 for new car sales in 2014

VW Golf

In passenger vehicles Volkswagen continues to take the plaudits for Top Manufacturer and Top Make in 2014, with the VW marque ahead of the next highest manufacturers (Toyota, Ford, Hyundai and Nissan) in new car registrations. The same top marques as in 2013.

The figures from Motorcheck.ie show that the VW Golf was the market leader with sales up 23% year on year with 4,596 registrations which is 868 more than in 2013.

The rest of the Top 5 were Nissan Qashqai (3,791 units, up by 848 or 28.81% on 2013), Ford Focus (also with 3,791 sales, up 924 on 2013 or 32.23%), Ford Fiesta (3,119, up 710 on 2013 or 29.47%), and Toyota Corolla (3,008, plus 1,923 or 177.24% on 2013) respectively. The only change year-on-year was the Passat which replaced with the Toyota Corolla in fifth place.

The top five were followed by the Skoda Octavia (2,846, up 855 on 2013 or 42.94%); Hyundai ix35 (2,611 up 1,183 on 2013 or 82.84%); VW Passat (2,380, plus 198 on 2013, or 9.07% ); Toyota Yaris (2,048, up 383 on 2013, or 23.00%); and Toyota Auris (2,040, down 98 on 2013, or minus 4.58%).

Nissan Qashqai