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The latest new car sales statistics from vehicle history checking website Motorcheck.ie have revealed that so far for 2009 sales of diesel cars are considerably ahead of those for petrol ones with 7,370 compared to 4,025. This is in sharp contrast to statistics for the same period last year where 13,189 petrol cars were sold compared to just 10,712 diesel cars. Also interesting to note is that ‘flexifuel’, hybrid and electric-powered models account for less than 2% of the new car market, showing little or no movement on last year’s numbers. The statistics incorporate figures for new car sales up until the end of Thursday 15th January 2009 and for the corresponding period for 2008. One of the main reasons being attributed to the major turnaround in relation to the popularity of diesel cars is that drivers reeling from the current economic downturn are quickly becoming more economically conscious and are therefore beginning to really appreciate the long-term financial benefits of driving a diesel car. Shane Teskey, director of Motorcheck.ie, confirms that this is indeed the case:

“It is no real surprise that given the current economic climate drivers are turning to diesel-powered vehicles in their droves. The major benefits of driving a diesel as opposed to a petrol-powered car are that the fuel burns significantly slower, the engines tend to perform better and also road tax rates are more attractive for diesel drivers. All of this means that in the long-term there is no doubt that a diesel car is the more economically-sound purchase”. Road Tax Rates

The Motorcheck.ie statistics also give some interesting indications in relation to driver preferences. Remarkably, an analysis of CO2 bands, which determine how high the levels of CO2 emissions of a vehicle are and what the appropriate tax payable is, suggests that drivers are not terribly environmentally conscious with Band A (fewest emissions) only the fourth-most popular with 1,005 sales. Whereas Band B is by some way the most popular with 4,574 sales, showing that drivers are prepared to sacrifice the environment to a certain extent in order to secure a little bit more performance from their vehicle. Teskey commented:

“It is interesting to note that of the 11,528 new car sales so far this year only 1,005 of them have been in CO2 Band A, representing just 8.7% of total sales. However, this is still an improvement on last year’s figure where only 1.3% of new cars registered during this period were in Band A. This tells us that the financial incentives for ‘going green’ are beginning to dissuade motorists from driving gas guzzlers, but there is certainly still a long way to go”.

Furthermore, Dublin has predictably recorded by far the highest number of new car sales so far for 2009 (3,323) with Cork next (1,667) then followed by Kildare (603). At the other end of the scale Leitrim dealers have sold just 43 new cars this year. On a lighter note, it looks like drivers are also becoming more fashion-conscious in 2009 with motorcheck.ie’s statistics also showing that silver (2,722 sales) has overtaken black (2,554 sales) as the most popular colour for a new car.