New car sales fall well behind 2016

NEW figures published by the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) show that new car sales fell back sharply in the first six months of the year.

SIMI’s second quarter industry review shows that while 91,185 new cars were sold in Ireland in the first six months of 2017 that figures is down by 10 per cent when compared to new cars sold during the first half of 2016.

The SIMI/DoneDeal report highlights that a combination of factors, including rising housing, rental and health insurance costs and uncertainty surrounding Brexit, were affecting disposable income spending and making consumers far more cautious about purchasing big-ticket items such as new cars.

In Kerry 2,561 new cars were sold from January to the end of June compared with 2,943 in the same period last year.

That represents a decline of 12.9 per cent which, worryingly, is well above the decline seen nationally.

The review also reveals that nearly half (49 per cent) of all imported used cars during the period were five years or older, while the diesel share of used imports is just over 79 per cent.

Sterling weakness and a scarcity of second hand cars due to the collapse in new car sales from 2009 onwards, were the main factors behind the strong increase in used imports.

“Economic growth will be supportive, but financial pressures on consumers and the uncertainty around Brexit are likely to continue to weigh on big-ticket items such as new cars,” said the report’s author economist Jim Power.

“At the same time, imported used cars will remain popular. For the full year, the likelihood is that new car registrations will be 10 per cent down on last year,” said Mr Power.