One of the interesting things to emerge from the latest round of SIMI registration data, particularly from an aftermarket point of view, was the sharp rise in year-on-year used car imports. 

4946 used cars were imported and registered in February this year, 24% up on the 3989 figure for February 2023. Year to date used imports are at 10,271, 32% up on the 7,775 figure for January and February last year. 

The increase in imports early in the year is consistent with a similar rise in the last quarter of 2023 and could mean that in 2024, for every two new cars registered in the Republic, there will be a ratio of one used car import. This is especially significant for the aftermarket, as cars coming in tend to be slightly older models that are out of warranty.

The reasons behind the rise in imports will be largely down to lack of used car availability in Ireland, partly due to the lack of registrations during the Covid period and due to subsequent supply issues. Other factors would seem to be dealers and individuals getting to grips with the complication of post Brexit used car imports from the UK and a greater number of vehicles coming in from Japan. 

Data on the origin of imports is not readily available, but a look at the most popular models being brought in would seem to indicate many are coming from the Far East. There are high numbers of imports which are classed as “model unidentified”, which tends to indicate Japanese rather than UK origin. There are also significant numbers of cars that are registered as models sold under different names in Ireland, including the 319 Honda Fits (Jazz), 166 Toyota Vitz (Yaris) and 80 Nissan March (Micra). 

Top of the import list and coming from both the UK and Japan are firm favourites with Irish buyers from VW, Audi and BMW. Indeed it is interesting to note that year to date 781 Golfs and 577 Polos have been imported, while the corresponding figures for new registrations of these models is 1028 Golfs and 575 Polos. 

Other year to date top five imports also make interesting reading: 

• Audi A3 – imports 448, new registrations 318.  
• BMW 3 Series – imports 340, new registrations 248.     
• BMW 5 Series – imports 334, new registrations 269.     

With regard to power sources, 71% of vehicles are either petrol or petrol hybrid. 25% are diesel and less than 3% pure electric. 

These imports are likely to stay at very significant numbers throughout 2024 and offer excellent business potential for independent garages.