New car sales were down for the first month of 2002. The drop of 6.45 per cent to 31,193 cars confirmed industry expectations of a modest decline this year, compared with 2001.
Most of the big volume importers were down on registrations, the exceptions being Renault, Peugeot, Citroen and Ford, which led the January market. January was also a spectacularly good month for Audi: its sales were up 48.5 per cent on January 2001. "It's the best month ever in Audi's history in Ireland," says John Hayes, sales manager.
- A futuristic Lexus, the sort of car that is likely to be around in 2054, will feature in the new Steven Spielberg movie, Minority Report. The film, which opens in the US on June 28th, also stars Tom Cruise, Samantha Morton and Irish actor Colin Farrell. Steven Spielberg is a Lexus owner, and looking at the car in his driveway he was inspired to think what its 2054 successor would look like.
- Britain's favourite company car is the VW Golf, according to leasing giant, Lex Vehicle Leasing. The company says the Golf (which is also Europe's best-selling car) was the most popular of the 25,000 models it bought, mainly due to its many engine and trim options.
- Mercedes-Benz is the first executive and luxury marque ever to be listed in the top-10 best-selling car brands here. Last year its sales increased by 7.8 per cent and its share of the new car market grew to 2.8 per cent. Matt Fagan, the chief executive, says the growth was achieved when the motor trade overall was experiencing a 28 per cent downturn.