February delivers a steady month for new car registrations

OFFICIAL statistics released today by the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) show that the total new car registrations for the month of February were steady, as registrations were very much in line (17,081) when compared to February 2017 (17,089), while new cars registrations year to date remain -3.5% (54,143) down on the same period last year (56,092).

The new Commercial Vehicle sector showed a mixed result between Light and Heavy Commercial Vehicle registrations. New Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV) registrations were up 6.13% (2,634) on February 2017 (2,487) and year to date are up 6% (9,356). While New Heavy Commercial Vehicles (HGV) have declined 10% for the month of February (243) compared to the same month last year (270) and are down 11% (646) year to date.

Imported Used Cars have increase by 14.4% February 2018 (8,903) and year to date are 17.3% (17,964) ahead of 2017(15,317).

Commenting on the figures SIMI Director General, Alan Nolan stated “New car registrations for the month of February delivered a steady performance when compared with the same month last year, however registrations overall remaining 3.5% down year to date. The increase in the light commercial vehicle sector reflects the strong economic growth for businesses, particularly in the local economy, while HGVs which may be more impacted by Brexit concerns, remain down 11%. The Brexit impact is also visible in the continued growth in used car imports which were 15.7 % up in February.

The Diesel market share is continuing to move back toward more traditional levels in new car sales, having reached an artificially high peak of 73% in 2014, it is currently standing at 57 % so far in 2018. As a consequence of this shift, as SIMI had previously indicated, the average CO2 emissions for new cars registered this year have increased by 2.1%.”