New official vehicle registration statistics from The Society of the Irish Motor Industry shows total new car registrations grew 7.4% in September 2019 compared with September 2018. New car registrations year to date are down 7.5% (113,958) on the same period last year (123,195).
Imported used cars for September increased 20.3% on the same month last year and year to date imports are up 6.7% ahead of 2018. New electric vehicle registrations continue to grow month on month with a total of 2,976 electric cars registered so far in 2019, which is a 153% increase on the same period last year.
The top three best-selling models in 2019 are the Toyota Corolla, Hyundai Tucson and Nissan Qashqai. The top three best-selling brands are Volkswagen, Toyota and Hyundai, while the Ford Kuga was the top selling car in September 2019.
Speaking ahead of next week's Budget 2020 announcement, Brian Cooke, SIMI Director General said: “With the announcement of Budget 2020 only a week away, we in SIMI continue to underline to Government not to increase taxation on new cars. In this uncertain business and consumer environment, any taxation increase would only further undermine an already fragile new car market.”