Get used to it.. new car sales are down
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NEW car sales crashed last year but used motor deals reached a record high, it was revealed yesterday.
The number of vehicles licensed in 2018 dropped by 4.6% but the volume of second-hand or imported ones jumped by 7.5%.
Volkswagen was the most popular make of new car followed by Toyota, Hyundai, Ford and Nissan.
The five brands represent 46.2% of all cars licensed, official figures show.
Ireland’s most popular new motor was the VW Golf with 3,944 snapped up followed by the Ford Focus (3,815), Hyundai Tucscon (3,786) and the Nissan Qashqai (3,746).
At the upper end of the market, the top-selling car was the BMW 5 Series with 1,532, sold ahead of the Mercedes E-class at 1,353. It also emerged nearly half of all new cars were licensed in Dublin and Cork.
The Central Statistics Office revealed 121,157 motors were licensed last year.
But in a worrying trend for the industry, the number of used or imported cars licensed rose by
7.5% to 99,456 from 92,508 in 2017. The rise is being attributed to a fall in the value of sterling making it more attractive to buy vehicles from the UK. Overall, 220,613 new and used private cars were licensed last year – the highest figure since 2007 when it hit 239,473. All but three counties – Carlow, Kildare and Louth – showed a decrease in the number of new cars. The popularity diesel appears to in decline.
Only 54.3% of new cars licensed last year of be use this fuel compared with 64.9% in 2017. The figures also showed drivers are becoming more concerned about carbon emissions.
A total of 7.1% of new private cars licensed were electric or hybrid but this is a 66% increase compared with 2017.
The statistics show the most popular colour for motors last year was grey at 37.7% followed by black at 18.3% with 15.1% white.
The CSO noted this was the same order in 2017 and the colour of choice for most new Volkswagen, Toyota, Hyundai, Ford and Nissan cars last year was grey.
A vehicle is licensed when a valid motor tax disc is issued for the first time whereas registration occurs when a vehicle gets its licence plate after rolling off the production line.
Percentage of new cars licensed last year that were electric or hybrid