Official statistics released by the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) show new car registrations in April were up 21% (9,471) on April (7,822) 2014.

So far this year new car sales are up 28% (74,001). Light Commercials Vehicles (LCV), were up by 59% (2,088) compared to (1,316) April 2014 and are up 60% (12,152) year to date. While HGV (Heavy Goods Vehicle) registrations are up 24% for the month of April (235) 2015 compared with April (189) 2014, however are down -7% year to date.   

Commenting on the figures Brian Cooke Deputy Director General SIMI said: “The increase in registrations continue to demonstrate improvements in the marketplace. The strong growth in retail sales highlights consumer confidence around the country with every county experiencing an increase in sales. Longford has seen the strongest growth in sales with 46%, while Wexford is some way behind the trend with the lowest growth rate of just 10%. LCV registrations continue to show improvements in the business environment as many companies are starting to invest in the renewal of their fleets. HGV registrations year to date continue to remain down overall but we have seen some improvement for the month of April which will hopefully continue as the year progresses”.     
 
Stats in short:
• New car sales up 21% on April 2014
• 9,471 cars were sold April 2015 v 7,822 in April 2014
• 12,152 Light Commercial Vehicles sold YTD 2015 V 7,641 YTD 2014
• Top 3 selling car brands were Volkswagen, Toyota, Ford
• Top 3 selling models were the Volkswagen Golf, Ford Focus, Nissan Qashqai
• Top selling van was the Ford Transit Van