Data provided by the vehicle history experts at Cartell.ie reveals an extremely high level of activity in the used car market for 2014 and an increase again for the first quarter of 2015. The headline figure is over one million used car transactions in a year for the first time - counting the 12 months of 2014. While a transaction is defined as a vehicle sale, be it dealer-to-dealer, dealer-to-private or private-to-private (and includes all vehicle types and tax classes), the increase is highly significant and the numbers for the first quarter of 2015 are even more encouraging for the industry.
Up to the end of March, some 303,754 used vehicle transactions were recorded. If that rate continues throughout 2015 then we’re in for a record 1.2 million transactions.
The greater Dublin region accounts for nearly a third of all transactions, at 317,018 during 2014 and hatchbacks make up 40% of all the transactions.
A considerable 70,295 vehicles were imported in 2014 and despite a strong Pound vs. the Euro, the rate of imports for the first three months of the year is at a similar level. It’s thought that extra demand in the used market is outweighing the poor currency exchange rate. Interestingly, while marginally more petrol vehicles changed hands in 2014 (51)%) than diesel, those importing vehicles clearly favoured diesel, as it accounted for 83% of imports.