County goes against flow in new car sales
CAR SALES in County Wexford increased by 3.42% in 2018, a figure which bucked the national average of a 4.4% decrease, something which has been largely attributed to the uncertainty surrounding Brexit.
In total, 3,174 new vehicles were registered in Wexford over the course of 2018. The majority of these (1,035) were sold in January, with another sales bump occurring in July (725) with the arrival of the 182 plates.
February and March also remained strong for sales with 417 and 439 cars sold respectively, before taking a dip to 180 and 132 in April and May, and just 22 new cars were sold in June.
Towards the second half of the year, 116 cars were sold in August before sales dipped to 73 in September, 27 in October, eight in November and no sales in December.
While the January sale figure was lower than that of January 2017, the six months that followed were considerably better than the same period in 2017, registering percentage increases ranging from 1% to 34%.
Nationally, new electric car registrations for 2018 have increased with 1,233 registered in comparison to 622 in 2017. While the diesel and petrol market shares have moved closer nationally, in Wexford over 56% of new cars registered in 2018 were diesel powered.
• In terms of brands, Hyundai sold most cars in Wexxford (347), followed by Ford (340), Toyota (301), Volkswagen (274), Renault (255), Nissan (244), Peugeot (176), Skoda (160), Opel (147), and Kia (144).
• The top selling vehicle in Wexford was the Hyundai Tucson, which had 124 new registrations.
• Of the 3,174 new cars registered in Wexford last year, 1,790 were diesel while 1,168 were petrol. 170 petrol electric cars were registered with 39 electric and seven petrol/plug-in electric hybrids sold.
• Almost 40 per cent of the new cars sold in County Wexford last year were of the jeep/SUV standard variety.
• 1,173 hatchbacks were sold in the county, representing almost 37% of the total. 30.75% of new cars registered were MPVs.
• The majority of cars registered in Wexford (80.53%) were manual transmission.
• Grey was the preferred colour for over a third of Wexford car owners, with 34.56% choosing to buy in that colour. Just over 18% picked white or ivory, with 14.71% opting for blue and 14.46% choosing black.
Commenting on the figures, SIMI Director General Designate Brian Cooke said that, despite the challenges, the industry was looking ahead and concentrating on the new 191 sales period, adding that January and the first quarter of the year would be the key focus for dealers.
‘In this context, the new car market is hugely competitive, with a wide choice of models and creative incentives, as well as the availability of a variety of financing options driving real value for new car customers.
‘For consumers looking at the used car market, whether an Irish car or a used import, SIMI’s advice is to shop around and consider the real benefits of shopping in your local retailer, who not only provide value to the customer but also encourage economic activity locally.’