As we approach the start of the 152 registrations we take a look back at the year so far writes Geraldine Herbert
- In the first five months of the year there was a 26% increase in new cars licensed in comparison with the same period last year
- To the end of May this year, 80,892 new private cars have been licensed, up from 63,993 in 2014.
- Sales are very likely to exceed 100,000 by the end of the year the first time since 2008.
- Volkswagen maintained its position as Ireland’s favourite car manufacturer with a 12.59% market share ahead of Ford, Toyota, Hyundai and Nissan.
- The most popular new car is the Volkswagen Golf followed by the Ford Focus, Nissan’s Qashqai, the Volkswagen Passat and Skoda Octavia.
- Electric cars are also up by almost 160% with 310 sold in the first five months of this year compared with only 120 in the same period last year.
- When it comes to colour we are a conservative bunch. Black has replaced silver as the most common new car colour, followed by grey, white and blue.
- Hatchbacks and saloons are the most common body types accounting for almost 60% of all new cars.
- While diesel still takes the lion’s share of sales petrol’s share of the market grew slightly – from 25.1% in 2014 to 27.3% in 2015.
Geraldine Herbert
26th June, 2015
RT 
