Official statistics released by the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) show that the total new car registrations for the year 2015 (124,945) finished up 30% ahead of 2014 (96,284).

The month of December registered a slight decrease -1.44% (342) compared with the same month in 2014 (347) however it should be noted that volumes for December are very small.

Light Commercial Vehicles (LCV), for 2015 recorded a 42% (23,722) increase on registrations last year (16,732). While the month of December saw registrations performed strongly with a 50% increase (236) in comparison to December 2014 (157)
HGV (Heavy Goods Vehicle) show that registrations, for 2015 (2,135) were up 9% on 2014.

Commenting on the figurers SIMI Director General Alan Nolan said: “We are pleased that 2015 has turned out to be a good year of continued recovery for our Industry which is a very strong indicator of the health of the general economy. We now look forward to 2016 with greater optimism and a real potential to see registrations return to normal levels that we have not seen since before 2008. Sales within the different sectors have performed well in 2015 and we would expect to see this improvement continue in the new year”.

Stats in short:
•New car sales year to date (2015) 124,945 - (2014) 96,284 +30%
•New car sales total December (2015) 342 - (2014) 347 -1.44%

5 Top Selling Makes for the Year 2015:
1) Volkswagen, 15,379
2) Toyota 13,109
3) Ford 12,050
4) Hyundai 11,484
5) Nissan 11,198

5 Top Selling Models for the Year 2015
1) Volkswagen Golf
2) Ford Focus
3) Nissan Qashqai
4) Skoda Octavia
5) Toyota Corolla

•Top selling Car for the month of December was the Toyota Yaris
•Top selling colour for the year 2015 is Black
•Light Commercial Vehicles sales year to date (2015) 23,722 – (2014) 16,732 +41.78%
•Light Commercial Vehicles sales total December (2015) 236 -(2014) 157 +50%

5 Top Selling Makes for Light Commercial Vehicles (LCV) 2015
1) Ford 6,467
2) Volkswagen 3,371
3) Renault 2,960
4) Toyota 1,830
5) Citroen 1,363

•LCV Top Selling Model for the Year 2015-Ford Transit Van

•Heavy Goods Vehicle total sales year to date (2015) 2,154- (2014) 1,969 +9.4%

•Heavy Goods Vehicle sales December total (2015) 48 (2014) 4