New car sales down almost 13 per cent
NEW car registrations in County Wexford during the first seven months of this year were down more almost 13 per cent, according to figures released this week by the SIMI.
It said 2,773 cars were registered in the county during the period, compared to 3,184, a fall of 12.9 per cent.
The figures, part of a review published in association with DoneDeal.ie. outlined that new car sales in the first half of 2017 nationally totalled 91,185 a fall of 10 per cent when compared to new cars sold during the first half of 2016.
The SIMI/DoneDeal report highlighted that a combination of factors, including rising housing, rental and health insurance costs and uncertainty surrounding Brexit, were affecting disposable income spending and making consumers cautious about purchasing big-ticket items such as new cars.
IN a section dealing with the cost cost of motoring, the review said petrol prices were up 5.8 per cent over the period; diesel prices rose by 10.4 per cent.
The Average price of a new car was down 4.1 per cent and but average insurance costs were 43.9 per cent higher than in May 2014 The market share for hybrid vehicles increased from 1.6 per cent of the market in the first six months of 2016 to 3.2 per cent of the market in the same period in 2017, according to the report. During the first half of the year, 46,004 used cars were imported, which represented an increase of 42.6 per cent compared to the first half of 2016. According to Done Deal 10,509 car ads were placed on their site from Wexford in the first six months of 2017.
The top selling car in Wexford was the Hyundai Tucson.