New Car Sales drop in Jan 2017 whilst Used Imports Surge

New Car Sales are down 1.75% in January 2017 whilst Used Imports surge by 67% due to Brexit and exchange rates.

Official figures released today by Car History experts Motorcheck.ie show that new car sales in January 2017 have decreased slightly on last year with 39k units sold compared to 39.7k units in January 2016.  This represents a small drop of about 1.75%. A large surge of 5,063 units registered on the last day of the month brought the figures almost into line with last year as manufacturers looked to hit their targets.

Hyundai top selling brand and model

Hyundai continues to reinforce its rise to popularity by becoming the nation’s top selling make in January with the Hyundai Tucson again dominating the crossover SUV segment and continuing its reign at the top as Ireland’s best-selling new car overall.
The commercial sector was similar with 6.3k units sold compared to 6.5k for the same month last year, a drop of almost 2.5%.

Beware of Used Imports

It was predicted that this year’s new car sales would be on a par or even slightly down on last year. It is evident early on that equalling last year’s performance is going to be a challenge for the Motor Trade in Ireland this year. Due to Brexit and current exchange rates the surge in Used Cars imported from the UK has continued with over 7.5k units being imported in Jan 2017. That’s an increase of over 67% on last year. This effects new car sales as many consumers will opt for a bigger used car or one with a better spec rather than buying new. However, consumers need to beware as we have seen an increase in clocked and written off cars being imported to Ireland in recent times”.

Car Sales Highlights for Jan 2017:

  • Car registrations for Jan 2017 decreased 1.75% with 39,001 units sold
  • Used cars imported for Jan 2017 increased 67.6% with 7,575 units sold
  • The top selling manufacturers were Hyundai, Toyota, Ford, Volkswagen and Nissan
  • The top selling models were the Hyundai Tucson, Ford Focus, Ford Fiesta, Nissan Qashqai, and Volkswagen Golf

Light Commercial Sales Highlights for Jan 2017:

  • LCV registrations for Jan 2017 decreased 2.46% with 6,394 units sold
  • The top selling manufacturers were Ford, Volkswagen, Renault, Toyota and Peugeot
  • The top selling models were the Ford Transit, Volkswagen Caddy, Ford Transit Connect, Toyota Landcruiser and Citroen Berlingo.