The Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) held its 62nd Annual Dinner at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel in Dublin last night with over 700 Motor Industry guests in attendance.

Addressing the audience, SIMI President James Brooks called for the Motor Industry to look to the future with renewed confidence.

"We are an Industry that thrives on confidence; Consumer confidence together with the availability of finance are vital for selling new and used vehicles". Stating that the Industry had turned a corner, he acknowledged that the 2nd registration plate was a contributing factor which now gives the Industry a second sales peak each year. He thanked all involved in delivering this better system.  The SIMI President also noted the Industry's work in areas such as End of life Vehicles (ELVES) the structural repair of vehicles (CSS) and Commercial Vehicle Testing (VTN).

Commenting on the increase in passenger car sales, up 32% so far this year, and Light commercial vehicles sales up an astonishing 70%; James Brooks noted that consumers are starting to spend again. However registrations in the HGV market are off to a slow start for a variety of reasons, amongst which, the implementation of a new type approval processes is slowing down registrations, and this is a cause for concern. It is hoped that additional resources will be delivered urgently to solve the current situation as quickly as possible.

The SIMI President complimented the Road Safety Authority for its work in relation to the standards of vehicles on our roads and underlined how crucial this is. "Last year 51% of cars failed their NCT test, only 30% of cars fail their first NCT at four year's old but at 9 year's old almost 70% fail. Almost 700,000 cars failed the NCT last year so at any point in time a significant number of cars on the road are likely to be unsafe."
Mr Brooks suggested that it should be illegal to sell tyres below a minimum tread depth and the same should apply to those on used cars being sold, no matter who is selling it. It would also make sense to require a new full NCT Cert at the point when a used car is of being sold to a new owner. He emphasised that SIMI is committed to working with the RSA in relation to such safety projects.

In closing the President recognised that "the Industry itself has an obligation to do something to help improve the safety of older cars on our roads. We have all been touched by the consequences of fatal accidents, it's not about business; it's about saving lives".