Welcome news for dealers as new car sales surge up

THERE’S good news for the motor industry in Kerry this week as new figures show the number of new cars being sold in Kerry has soared upwards in the first six months of the year.

The Society of the Irish Motor Industry has just released its official 161 reg cars sales figures for the first half of 2016 and the news is very good for the sector.

According to the SIMI figures 2,292 new 161 registered cars were purchased in Kerry between January and the end of June.

That represents a massive 27 per cent increase on the same period last year when 1,809 new cars were sold in the county.

The year on year growth in sales in Kerry was well ahead of the national average of 23 per cent according to SIMI.

There was little obvious change in the top selling brands with the Hyundai Tucson, Volkswagen Golf, Ford Focus, Skoda Octavia and Nissan Qashqai the most popular models.

“At the start of the year we predicted that this year’s registration numbers should reach 150,000 for the first time since 2008 and these figurers keep us on track to deliver that. This year promises to be the first normal year of registrations since the recession and with the range of attractive offers available across all brands we are confident that 162 will also deliver in the coming months,” said Alan Nolan of SIMI.

SIMI Director Alan Nolan