DUBLIN: New car registrations fell by 21% last month, compared to February 2016, a decrease that was worse than expected by the industry. The Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) said the 17,128 new cars registered in February were lower than expected, even taking into account the impact of Brexit has had on the import of used vehicles from the UK. February 2016 saw 21,573 new cars registered, and while it had an extra day trading due to the leap year, the drop in sales this year was more than SIMI had hoped. “We have 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,” said Alan Nolan, SIMI director general.
“Even with the relatively poor market in February, the year-to-date figure remains just 8% below last year so attention will now turn to the final month of the first quarter. “As a result the market for March will be very closely watched by the Industry for a clearer indication of where the 171 registration period is likely to finish up.” Registrations of new light commercial vehicles in February were down 28% on the 3,457 sold in the same month last year, and while heavy goods vehicle registrations were up 5% for the month of February, they are down by 2% on that of the previous year.
Meanwhile, classified ads website DoneDeal said there were €5.4bn worth of goods advertised in its motor section last year, which it said highlights “the massive growth of used car sales in Ireland”. A spokesperson for the site said that the Volkswagen Golf was the top selling car on DoneDeal in 2016, followed by Ford Focus, VW Passat, BMW 3 Series and Audi A4. It added that a total of 663,336 cars were advertised on the site last year. “A significant feature of DoneDeal’s success in 2016 was the increase in the number of car dealerships now subscribing to DoneDeal,” said Cathal Cremen, commercial manager of DoneDeal’s motor section. DoneDeal said the number of ads placed on the site by car dealers increased by 21% in 2016, with the number of car dealers subscribing also up 17%.
