CAR DEALERS are reporting a brisk start to trading in 2010, despite the poor weather conditions, which are reportedly keeping customers away from showrooms to collect their vehicles, writes
PADDY COMYN
Initial sales figures, seen by The Irish Times, show there were 1,700 units sold in the first few days of trading, compared to 2,526 over the same period of 2009, a 32 per cent drop in sales. However this was with one less day of sales and many dealers are reporting that poor weather conditions have prompted many customers to delay collecting their new vehicle.
According to vehicle report website motorcheck.ie, 70 per cent of the new 10-registered cars are within Tax Band A and B, with emissions of less than 140g/km, while 62.1 per cent are powered by diesel engines.
Toyota is the top-selling brand with 17.3 per cent of the sales and Fords Focus is the biggest-selling individual model.
Mercedes sold 55 E-Class models in the first few trading days of 2010, making it the fourth bestselling diesel car so far this year and the ninth best-selling car overall. This is a good indication there might be a return to strong sales of executive cars in 2010.
Director general of the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) Alan Nolan said the signs are good so far.
“Feedback has been positive from members so far but it is still a little early to tell just yet how the month is going to be compared to last year.”
Mike Finlay of Finlay Ford, with outlets in Naas and Newbridge, said pre-sales were up on last year. “The weather is a factor so far, as conditions have been pretty bad around Kildare but we are significantly up in terms of pre-sales on last year, up about 30 per cent and that means the signs are good.
“And this isn’t really anything to do with scrappage yet either as we expect more of a drip feed in sales for scrappage cars this year,” says Finlay.
Bill Cullen of the Bill Cullen Motor Group, which operates five Renault dealerships throughout the country, told The Irish Times they have three times the orders for new Renault cars that they did at the same time last year.
“Many of this year’s customers are older buyers, perhaps who have their mortgages paid already, and the bad weather has also added to our workshop business thanks to the poor driving conditions.”
New car sales figures released yesterday by SIMI show the total sales for 2009 were 62.1 per cent down on sales in 2008 at 57,460, from 151,607 in 2008.
The impact of last year’s collapse in sales has led to the appointment of a liquidator for Cathal Brady Audi in Cavan, which ceased operation before Christmas.
The business had opened in 2006. Liquidator Barry Clarke, Bedford Place, Navan said 10 jobs have been lost as a result of the closure. There are no immediate plans for the business.
He added that there were no other businesses involved in the liquidation and that there was no business connections to Niall Brady Motors, main Skoda dealer, which trades at Bradys Motor Park, Cavan or with Brady Arva, Co Cavan or Bradys Audi, Castleknock, Dublin 15.
There was better news, however, with two new dealerships opening to replace those lost as part of the Hogan Group closure.
Tony Burke, a former employee of the Hogan Group has re-employed 27 of the 70 people who had lost their jobs in the Galway operation at the newly appointed Tony Burke Motors, who will sell Toyota and Lexus at the Hogans of Galway site.
At the site of the former Hogans of Clonmel, John Kennedy, another former Hogans employee, will open John Kennedy Motors as a Toyota dealer. He has taken 10 of the 16 staff from Hogans of Clonmel for the new business. Neither of the new businesses have any links to the former Hogan company.