New car sales rise by 7% in October

New car sales rose by almost 7 per cent in October, with 3,021 cars sold during the month. However, the number of imported used cars fell by 8.7 per cent in the month to 4,252 over the same period.

There was also an increase in new goods vehicles licensed during the month, up by 50.8 per cent to 1,467.

On an annual basis, new car sales rose by almost 30 per cent in the year to end October 2014 to 89,915, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO), which bases its figures on the number of vehicles being licensed in Ireland for the first time. The number of used (imported) private cars was also up, standing at 45,386, an increase of 8 per cent on 2013.

Volkswagen was again the most popular car brand in October, accounting for 13 per cent (383) of all sales, followed by Ford (246), BMW (212) and Skoda (209). Toyota (491) and Nissan (473)

On an annual basis, Volkswagen was again the most popular car, with 10,954 sales. It was followed by Toyota (9,405); Ford (8,903); and Hyundai (7,323).