2014 new car sales up 30%

New car sales in 2014, released by car history experts Motorcheck.ie, show the Irish market is up 30% on 2013 figures.

The industry had predicted total sales of approximately 85,000-90,000 units at the start of the year but the final figures have smashed this original prediction with over 96,000 (96,254) new cars sold in 2014. That’s over 22,000 more registrations than 2013 or an increase of 30%.

Michael Rochford, managing director of Motorcheck.ie said, “It’s been a really positive year for the motor trade all round. Not only has there been a large increase in new car sales; new commercial vehicle sales and motorcycle sales are way ahead of 2013 and the used car market has also surged ahead of previous years volumes.”

New commercial sales finished the year on a high also, up 43% on 2013 with more than 21,000 units sold, indicating confidence from the business world.

New Motorcycle sales finished the year 25% up on 2013 with over 1,000 units sold.

Used car sales, which had remained relatively unchanged for the past number of years increased by almost 50,000 vehicles in 2014 with more than 835,000 used vehicles changing hands during the year, an increase of 6.3% on last year.

Used cars imported into Ireland from other jurisdictions such as Great Britain and Northern Ireland were also up by 8.4% with 54,290 used vehicles registered in 2014.

“Early indications are that the positive trends will continue in 2015 with new car sales predicted to breach the magical 100,000 units. This was last achieved in 2008 when 142k units were sold” said Mr Rochford.