Official statistics released by the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) show that the total new car registrations for the month of April were up.

It is the first month this year that car sales have shown an increase of 3.33% (8,102) when compared to April 2017 (7,841), while new cars registrations year to date remain down 4.68% (79,897) on the same period last year (83,823).

New Light Commercial Vehicle registrations (LCV) were also up 6.51% (1,800) on April 2017 (1,690) and year to date are up 5.39% (14,323). While New Heavy Commercial Vehicles (HCV) are up 4.74% for the month of April (243) compared to the same month last year (232) and are down 8.31% (1,158) year to date.

Imported Used Cars have increased 19.31% for April 2018 (8,649) when compared to April 2017 (7,249) and year to date are 11.74% (34,763) ahead of 2017 (31,111).

Commenting on the figures SIMI Deputy Director General, Brian Cooke said “April’s registration statistics released today are broadly in line with expectations. The slight increases in all sectors for the month can be attributed somewhat to the extra working days in April 2018 compared to last year, as Easter fell in March. Brexit continues to impact on business, as evidenced by the continued strong levels of used imports from the UK. Total new car registrations are projected to reach around 120,000 by the end of the year, a decline of 8.6% on 2017.”

The 5 Top Selling Car Brands Year to Date were:

1. Volkswagen
2. Hyundai
3.Toyota
4.Ford
5. Nissan

The Top car model’s year to date were:

1. Nissan Qashqai
2. Hyundai Tucson
3. Volkswagen Golf
4. Ford Focus
5. Skoda Octavia

The Top Selling Car April was the Volkswagen Polo.