AA Ireland recently surveyed over 7,000 motorists on their car purchase plans in 2010 and beyond. Overall, 16% hope to change their car this year. Results found the majority (54%) intend to purchase a second hand car. 6% plan to buy a new car and a minimal amount (0.3%) plan to buy an electric vehicle in 2010.

New cars
68% of motorists stated they are not likely to buy a new car at any stage in the near future. 6% intend to buy a new car in 2010 with the remaining 26% not planning to invest in a new car until beyond 2012. Many motorists reported inability to secure a car loan or are still paying off loans to their current car.  According to recent CSO figures on new car sales, 34.2% were petrol and 62.1% were diesel. This is a major turnaround on the established pattern and shows that Diesel is now the fuel of choice.

Second hand cars
Most car purchases are of second hand vehicles. 54% of motorists surveyed are planning to buy a second hand car in the future. Almost 10% intend to purchase in 2010. A quarter of drivers are still undecided.

Electric cars
Only 0.3% of respondents said that they will buy an electric car in 2010, but a healthy 11% hope to purchase one beyond 2010. 53% never plan on converting to electric, 34% are still undecided. While the electric car was favoured in theory, motorists are waiting until the infrastructure is more developed. They remain concerned  about the practicalities and efficiency for long distance journeys. Usage is not yet applicable to rural locations however, results predict a dramatic increase beyond 2010 as the technology advances.