Toyota is confident it will hold the top spot for another year with the battle now for second place, writes Daniel Attwood
Toyota has again ended the year as Ireland's most popular marque. The Japanese carmaker beat Ford to remain the country's number one despite its most popular model - the Corolla - coming to the end of its lifecycle and being replaced by a new saloon and hatchback at the start of this year.
By the end of 2006, Toyota held a massive 14.28 per cent share of the new car market, well ahead of Ford's 11.31 per cent share.
However Ford will be hoping that 2007 will see it regain some lost ground especially as this year will see the arrival of its major player in the fleet market - the new Mondeo.
Indeed, with much of its range now past the middle of its lifecycle, Ford has seen Volkswagen, which is Ireland's third most popular marque, creep up to within just 0.4 per cent of second place.
The battle for second place is of little concern to Toyota, which because of the arrival of its new Corolla saloon and Auris hatchback, is confident it will remain Ireland's number one again this year. There is also a battle royale under way between Opel and Nissan for fourth place with just 0.4 separating these two marques, and with Opel continuing to close the gap, this year could see the two trade places.
With 3.3 per cent of the total new car market, BMW remains the dominant player in the premium sector despite Mercedes-Benz, which has just under three per cent market share, renewing the bulk of its range over the past 18 months. But with the arrival of the Coupé and a new folding hardtop version of the best selling 3 Series, as well as the arrival of its new X5, BMW is certain it will keep its German rivals at bay in 2007.
While new car sales in 2006 were well above those of 2005, there are high hopes that sales in 2007 will be even stronger. This will go some way to appease franchise car dealers who are complaining of high overheads and falling profits as car manufacturers squeeze the margins dealers can make on new cars to ever tighter levels.
Indeed, last year was one of the best ever for new car sales with 178,826 cars sold, which is over 7,000 more than in 2005. And the motor industry is predicting another bumper year in 2007 with new car sales forecast to top 200,000. The buoyancy in the market will be helped by the maturing of the bulk of SSIA accounts that will see millions of euro come into the economy and into car showrooms between now and May.