The Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI ) is predicting that new car sales will exceed 100,000 units this year, on the back of strong sales figures for January.<\/p>\n
Official statistics show that\u00a0 new car registrations in January were 31 per cent (29,948) up on January 2014.<\/p>\n
Current Industry projections indicate that new car sales should be close to 115,000 with Light Commercials, currently up by 70 per cent (4,839) in January set to exceed 20,000, again for the first time since 2008, while HGV (Heavy Goods Vehicle) registrations were down 37 per cent. \u00a0
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\nThe figures were issued at today\u2019s SIMI Press Conference launching the final SIMI Quarterly Motor Industry Review in association with DoneDeal, revealing the full year results for 2014 and the outlook for 2015. \u2028<\/p>\n
Economist Jim Power, author of the Review is even more optimistic about 2015, forecasting the new car market at 120,000! He commented: \u201cAfter a number of very difficult years for the motor trade, the strong growth in car sales reflects improving consumer confidence and spending across the country.\u00a0 While we have not reached the highs of 2008, consumers are showing more confidence in the market and the indications are that we will continue to inch upwards this year provided economic and political conditions remain stable.\u201d \u00a0
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\nSIMI President James Brooks said: \u201c2014 was a positive year for the Motor Industry, and we are confident that this growth will continue into 2015, and this is borne out by the increase in vehicle sales in January 2015 Our Industry is a key contributor to Government with the increase in new and used sales in 2014 collecting \u20ac965 million for the exchequer, which in turn has helped to create an additional 3,800 jobs in the Motor Industry, up 10.1%* since 2013. We hope that the improved business environment and the continued support of the Government will let the Motor Industry rebuild itself and will aid its recovery further in 2015\u201d.<\/p>\n
Figures from DoneDeal, Ireland\u2019s most popular motoring site, also highlight the sustained upturn in the motor industry in 2014 with over 320,000 cars were advertised and sold on DoneDeal. \u2028\u2028Cathal Cremen, Commercial Manager of DoneDeal\u2019s Motor Section, said; \u201c2014 was a bumper year for DoneDeal. As Ireland\u2019s largest classified website we added over 486,000 new customer accounts. This increase in the number of accounts was mirrored by an increase of \u20ac649 million, bringing the total value of goods advertised in the motor section alone to \u20ac3.9 billion. These incredible figures truly cement DoneDeal\u2019s position as the number one online source for motoring\u201d.
\nThe review also highlighted the average age of cars on Irish roads, with over a third (35.5%) of the cars being over 10 years old,\u00a0 40.5% of cars are between 5 and 10 years old while only 24% of cars on Irish roads are 5 years or younger.\u00a0
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\nThe strongest growth in new car sales for January 2015 was seen in Co Louth with a 43% increase on last year. New cars sales are up in all counties, with the largest share of new car sales in Dublin.<\/p>\n
To view the full 2014 SIMI Motor Industry Review in association with DoneDeal log on to www.SIMI.ie<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI ) is predicting that new car sales will exceed 100,000 units this year, on the back of strong sales figures for January.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":5061,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[403,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-irish-news","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n