Drivers paying average of €30,000 for new cars

VEHICLE history and data expert Cartell.ie says that the buyer of a new private vehicle in Ireland is now purchasing a vehicle worth more than €30,000 on average for the first time since it started recording these statistics.

Cartell calculated the total value of new vehicles purchased in Ireland between the years 2006 and 2018 based on the recommended Open Market Selling Price (OMSP) for each vehicle and summing them up. The company divided the total value for each year by the number of new vehicles sold that year to establish the average value per buyer.

Unsurprisingly, Cartell.ie found the average value of a new vehicle purchased fluctuated with the fortunes of the economy, so, in 2007 at the height of the boom the average value of a vehicle purchased was €28,106 which dropped to €24,758 in 2011 before increasing steadily every year since then as the economy improved. In 2016 the average value of a new vehicle was already back to boom time levels recording €28,385 while in 2017 the value had ticked up 4% to €29,481.

For the first 6 months of 2018 the average value has now hit €30,000 returning a figure of €30,130: the first 6 months of 2017 recorded €29,391 before ending the year on €29,481. This shows the average Irish buyer is now buying a vehicle worth €30,000 for the first time since Cartell started recording these statistics.

Cartell.ie considered several possible reasons for the increase in the average value of a private vehicle purchased in Ireland over the last several years:

Consumers may be opting for more expensive vehicles, or more expensive vehicle types like SUVs and Crossover vehicles, or MPV

Buyer has more cash to spend or more available lines of credit.