SO FAR THIS year, over 95,217 new cars have been sold. This is the first time in five years that new car sales have reached 95,000, according to the Society of the Irish Motor Industry.

The latest figures released today show that this is an increase of 30% on 2013 figures (73,454).

Car sales are up 21% for the month of October in comparison to this time last year, from 1,692 to 2,042.

Low base

Alan Nolan, Director General SIMI said while the new car sales figures are encouraging, they were starting from a very low base.

“For sustainability the new car registration market needs to be operating at an annual level of 130,000 however these figures are a sign of continued progress and that sales are currently moving in the right direction.”

The Commercial Vehicle market is also on the rise, with light commercial/van sales up 51% (15,900) this year in comparison to 2013 (10,555).

For the month of October, there were also strong sales increases in this sector with 1,370, up 79% compared with October last year, which stood at 766.

Heavy Goods Vehicle registrations are also up 12% for the month of October and 23% for the year to date.

“The positive registration figures for all sectors is a welcome sign of recovery for our Industry particularly the light commercial registrations indicate a more general recovery in the wider economy,” said Nolan.

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