New car registrations up 30% for first eight months of 2015

New car registrations were up 32 per cent last month compared to August 2014 and are up 30 per cent for the year-to-date, according to new figures from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI).

The statistics show there were 6,429 new registrations in August as against 4,864 for the same month a year earlier.

For the year-to-the-end of August, there have been 116,350 new registrations.

Registrations of light commercial vehicles is up 32 per cent over the year from 1,248 in August 2014 to 1,643 last month. Heavy Good Vehicle registrations are up 24 per cent from 136 to 169 and are up 10 per ent in the year-to-date.

"As consumer and business confidence continues to grow in the economy, we see this reflected in the increase registrations for both new cars and commercial vehicles for the month of August. The industry is moving closer to normal levels of business with registrations continuing to perform month on month," said SIMI director Alan Nolan.

“The second registration period should continue to see increased activity for the next few weeks with special sales and finance offers continuing. We would expect that new car sales should exceed 120,000 at the end of the year given current trends,” he added.

Volkswagen remains the best-selling car manufacturer in Ireland, followed by Toyota, Ford, Hyundai and Nissan.