Louth car sales hit a bump in the road
LOUTH MOTOR INDUSTRY FACES A DECLINE IN SALES AS 2017 UNFOLDS
AFTER what has been a welcome boom over the last two years, Louth’s motor industry faces a tough challenge as 2017 began with a 16% drop in new registrations.
And it appears the looming threat of Brexit, and the uncertainty of its eventual impact, is having a knock on effect on the industry, which was only just beginning to recover from a tough economic recession.
The figures as the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) released its official statistics for the month of February which show that new car registrations in Louth were down from 1,517, compared to 1,273 in the same month in 2016.
The figures were disappointing given the historical boost to sales every year as motorists held out for the new registrationsplates in January.
Commenting on the figures Alan Nolan SIMI Director General said:
‘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.’
He explained that industry projections for the year suggested a market close to 140,000 for 2017, compared to 147,000 last year, but as economist Jim Power stated previously, ‘predicting the new car market for this year is going to be far more difficult than usual.’
Mr. Nolan added: ‘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.’
He added that 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.
‘While the economic indicators for Ireland are extremely strong, the ESRI have recently noted a fall in consumer confidence in December followed by an increase in January, although still behind 2016.’
He explained that the figures are particularly important as the motor industry can act as a ‘very accurate barometer for the economy and consumer confidence so such volatility in consumer sentiment tends to be reflected in the vehicle registration statistics.’
Nationally, the drop in car sales was reflected as in Louth with new car sales year to date standing at 56,110 compared to 61,295, a fall of 8.46%
The number of new car sales across the country last month came in at 17,128 compared to 21,573, a considerable 20.6% drop.
The SIMI also revealed the most popular makes in 2017 so far include Toyota, Hyundai, Ford, Volkswagen, and Nissan.
The top selling models for the year so far are Hyundai Tucson, Nissan Qashqai, Ford Focus, Skoda Octavia, and Volkswagen Golf.