The Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) official statistics for the first month of the year show that new car registrations in January are 31%(29,948)up on the same month in 2014 which should see sales comfortably exceed 100,000 at the end of the year, for the first time since 2008.

Current Industry projections indicate that new car sales should be close to 115,000 with Light Commercials, currently up by 70% (4,839) in January set to exceed 20,000, again for the first time since 2008. While HGV (Heavy Goods Vehicle) registrations are down 37%.

The figures were presented at an 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.

Economist Jim Power, author of the Review is even more optimistic about 2015, forecasting the new car market at 120,000. He commented “After 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.  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.”

SIMI President James Brooks said: “2014 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 €965 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”.

Figures from DoneDeal, Ireland’s 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.

Cathal Cremen, Commercial Manager of DoneDeal’s Motor Section, said; “2014 was a bumper year for DoneDeal. As Ireland’s largest classified website we added over 486,000 new customer accounts. This increase in the number of accounts was mirrored by an increase of €649 million, bringing the total value of goods advertised in the motor section alone to €3.9 billion. These incredible figures truly cement DoneDeal’s position as the number one online source for motoring”.
The 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,  40.5% of cars are between 5 and 10 years old while only 24% of cars on Irish roads are 5 years or younger.

The 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.