Brexit factor hits car sales

The Brexit factor is being blamed for the impact on new car sales in Louth during the traditional January boom.

The latest figures from the Society for the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) revealed tha there were 853 new cars sold in Louth in the first month of 2019.

This was down 2.74% on the 877 sold in the same month of 2018.

With 132 units sold, Nissan was the biggest selling manufacturer in the county last month, closely followed by Hyundai (90), Volkswagen (87), Renault (81), Ford (77), Peugeot (72) and Toyota (61). The biggest selling model was the Nissan Qashqai, with 63 units sold.

This was followed by the Hyundai Tucson (40), Nissan Micra (33), Peugeot 3008 (29) and Toyota Yaris (27).

Brian Cooke, Director General Designate, SIMI commented on the January figures: ‘New Vehicle Registrations in January are clearly disappointing but not surprising. With Brexit fast approaching adding to business uncertainty, the weakness of Sterling is continuing to drive down used car values which is increasing the cost to change.’