Used car imports surpass 100,00 for second straight year

Used car imports have exceeded 100,000 for a second consecutive year, figures from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (Simi) show

Irish consumers have been taking advantage of the Brexit-related slide in sterling to buy used premium models in the UK.

This has had a “dampening impact” on new car sales here, Simi said. The group’s latest figures show new car registrations for November were up 19 per cent on the same month last year.

However, new car registrations year to date were down 7 per cent (116,888) on the same period last year (125,529).

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Year to date imports of used cars were up 9.2 per cent at 103,902 surpassing the full year total of 2018 of 100,755.

The switch to electric motoring also appears to gathering pace with the figures showing electric car sales rising to 3,420 so far this year. This was 180 per cent up on the same period last year.

Volkswagen has been the best-selling brand in the new-car market since the start of the year, ahead of Toyota, Hyundai, Ford and Skoda

The Toyota Corolla was the best-selling model on the Irish new-car market this year while the Tesla Model 3 was best-selling model in November.

"Despite a small increase in November, new car registrations are down 7 per cent on 2018, underlining what has been a disappointing year for the Irish motor industry," Simi director general Brian Cooke said.

“For the second consecutive year, used car imports have exceed 100,000, which is having a dampening impact on new car sales,” Mr Cooke said.

“With the 201 registration plate on the horizon, focus has already turned to January,” he said. “With generous incentives for customers to buy a new car across all brands and across all market segments, members are hopeful for the busy start to 2020,” he said.