04.11.2009
New car sales continue to plummet
The Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) has released the official figures for new cars registered in October 2009 which at 1,526 are down 12.7 per cent on October 2008 (1,748). The year to date figure, at 56,637 is down 62.4 per cent on the figure to end of October 2008 (150,790).
SIMI Director General, Alan Nolan, commenting on the October figures said: “While on paper a -13% reduction on October last year might seem to suggest that new car registrations are improving, however October ’08 was such a poor month for car sales that it was already down -55 per cent on the previous October. The unfortunate reality is that these figures are merely a continuation of the trend for the year which remains at 62.4 per cent down.”
Nolan continued, “The Motor Industry has been decimated, we have seen respected long established companies close and more than 10,000 professional employees lose their jobs since January of last year.” “That’s nearly a quarter of all jobs in the motor industry lost already but with new car registrations remaining down at only on third of their normal level even the current level of employment cannot be sustained. All the indications are that next year will be no better unless we see a stimulus such as a Scrappage Scheme introduced and some real improvements in the availability of finance for consumers, particularly from those banks that are being bailed out by the State.” He added: “A Scrappage Scheme does not cost the State anything; it can deliver millions in additional tax revenues for the Exchequer and safeguard thousands of jobs around the country.”
Currently, 12 European countries have a Scrappage Scheme in place and these schemes have proven to be successful across Europe, in the US and in the UK, which recently announced an extension of their scheme. When the last Scrappage Scheme operated here in the mid 1990’s the exchequer gained more than €192Million in extra VAT and VRT through the scheme.
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