The Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) in their first Quarterly Motor Industry Review in association with DoneDeal for 2016 highlights the progress that the Motor Industry has made so far this year.

The report also presents an outlook for the coming year concluding that the key drivers of new car sales look set to remain positive. The report also states that with the current momentum of the Irish economy remains strong, employment is set to increase, improved earnings and consumer confidence is positive.

Against this background, Jim Power Economist and author of the SIMI/DoneDeal Report said: “New car registrations should be capable of expanding by around 25%, giving total sales of 156,181 for 2016. Looking ahead to 2017, while it is impossible to forecast that far ahead with any degree of confidence, another good year should be in prospect for the auto industry.”

Alan Nolan Director General SIMI said: “The first quarter of 2016 has been a strong start for our Industry, with VAT and VRT receipts for new and used cars totalling €752.4 million, 31.4% ahead of the first quarter of 2015 demonstrating that car sales continue to make an increasing contribution to the Exchequer. The increase growth in sales is partly due to the pent-up demand from older cars been replaced with new ones over recent years and we would expect to see the Industry continuing to improve towards more normal levels of sales with a projected €1.3 Billion likely to be collected for the Exchequer towards the end of 2016 for new car sales.”

Figures from DoneDeal’s own motoring site, mirrored the growth rate seen in the Motor Industry, with their car section advertising volumes increasing by over 11% on the same quarter last year, with a total advertised value of over €1.4 Billion in the Motor section alone for Q1 2016.

Cathal Cremen, Commercial Manager of DoneDeal’s Motor Section, said: “With 260,534 motor ads  published on DoneDeal.ie in the first quarter of 2016, the site continues to strengthen its position as the online platform of choice when it comes to the buying and selling of cars for both private individuals and professional dealerships
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“Our partnership with the SIMI dealership network is contributing positively to the range of higher value select cars on offer and the number of dealership ads now being published on the site, which has increased by 25% on the same period last year.”

The review also highlights that the cost of motoring in general has decreased with the price of new cars down on average 2.8%, Petrol prices have declined by 11.1% and Diesel prices also declined by 17.7% in contrast the cost of motor insurance is increasing at a significant pace have again increased by 32.4% in the first quarter of 2016