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THERE WERE 7,095 new private cars licensed last month, a fall of 11.2 per cent when compared with the 7,986 cars licensed in May last year.
However, the number of new goods vehicles licensed last month was 1,174, up 11.9 per cent in comparison with May 2012.
According to figures from the Central Statistics Office, in May, the total number of all vehicles licensed was 14,996 compared with 14,412 the corresponding month last year – an increase of 4.1 per cent.
Out of the 7,095 new private cars licensed in May, 25.5 per cent were petrol and 73.7 per cent were diesel.
The highest number of new private cars licensed last month, were Volkswagen at 909, followed by Hyundai (787), Ford (644) and Toyota (635).
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Why buy in may when July have 132 plate it’s like buying in Nov
That make sense but only if the SIMI lobby groups theory is correct. Lets see if June sales will be up on the June 2012 figures.
Apparently it worked well in GB, though I’m sure that the ability to make direct comparisons between the two islands is limited.
Ok so this scheme didn’t work. What we need is another scheme. January = 141, February = 142, march = 143. It’s just crazy enough to work. Charge extra for pink February plates cos of valentines day etc. or we could deal with the prohibitively high cost of motoring? No? Schemes it is.
Why buy 132 in July when you can buy 141 in 6 months…..I see a vicious circle here
A some point somebody’s going to need to actually buy the car, they can’t keep putting it off!
Anyway, model years are dictated by the manufacturer and no amount of bureaucratic meddling is going to change that fact.
maybe the elephant in the room is the lack of car finance / credit and money generally to buy brand new cars regardless of what bloody number they put on the plate…
What do you mean the Scheme didn’t work? If the scheme quirks you’d expect may sales to be down on last year.
All it did was prevent seasonal unemployment in the industry. The UK sees a double dip in sales rather ta. A slump after January.
prepare for a diesel hike !!
You can’t get blood out of a stone
V.true Justin!! But Mickey Noonan loves a challenge!!! Roll on next budget!!
What makes you think you’re a stone?
Fk the next budget ….roll on the next election. Now there’s a challenge fir Mickey Noonan and co.
You can sieze what the stone owns. Tax the stones future, including the stones kid’s future.
Elctions dont change a thing, have you not learnt that yet?
The 131/132 plates isn’t a bad idea. There is a logic in it.
The problem is that most people do not have money to buy new cars.
About half the country is having trouble paying day to day bills like food and electricity.
Personally I would never get a new car, anything that looses 40% of its value on first day is a scam. It is great for the German and French economy but it is a waste for ours.
That money can be saved on a great 2nd hand and invested or spent in other ways here.
assuming you pay cash for a new car, which nobody does. Some brands will give cheap loans to buy vehicles and it is more accessible often to buy the new one than try to get a loan to buy used, unless it’s really old in which case it won’t have a warranty. I agree it’s a trap, and for a country that doesn’t actually make cars it’s foolish for the government to make incentives to buy new.
Of course they are down, people at this stage in the 6 month cycle will wait for a 132 reg for future sale value. It’s the total annual sales that will only show the actual trend of car sales.
Diesel much cheaper, and who can afford to buy a new car with all the taxes Were being hit with. Cars in this country far to expensive compare to other european countries and why is that “tax”.
We’ll see how cheap it is when all these DPF problems come home to roost. The average joe hasnt got a clue when it comes to buying a diesel car. Complete false economy if your doing less than 14,000 KM per year and or short journeys. Going to cost a fortune in repair bills for all these fancy DPF turbo diesels. Wish buyers would do their research. No way in hell 75% of purchases need to be diesel.
Lowering or abolishing VRT will have a much bigger effect on increasing car sales than all this hocus pocus with the number plates.
I was so looking forward to buying a “13″ car this year (cause im weird like that) & didnt cause they where 131 (cause I’m stubborn like that)
I wanted 13 D 666 to freak the hell out of everyone who saw it. Anyone who gets the wiggins over the number 13 needs to cop on. It’s a number… like 87, 4, or 1039485762.
But the question is 13 unlucky anymore when we have the number 64 Billion which is what the banks are costing us?
Whoop Whoop! Irrelevant Bank comment alert!
This entire article is an irrelevant slur at the government so you nay as well have a random bank slur thrown in as well! Shocking journalism.
The 131/132 split driving sales up is wishful thinking, and I don’t believe it was ever the reason for it, the idea was to even sales through the year a little bit.
Last year I conceived myself I needed a new 2013 car. Luckily Toyota failed to provide the model on time, so I ended buying a second hand, different make and model. Guess what, saved myself quite a lot of money and I am very happy with the car.
Did you conceive in the car? Is that why you’re so happy with it?
That would be ‘convinced’ not ‘conceived’. Damn you autocorrect!
Nice one Falstaff, surely contender for comment of the week! Sorry Alfonso, but u did leave urself wide open for that one!!!
As it turns out, conceiving was the reason for the car purchase, but not the consequence…
Its the simi that has the used cars trade ruined, Forcing a one year nct for 10 year old cars and not pushing for the NCT test cert to commence from the test date. Self interest in new car sale has proven to be a 132 flop.
That’s why I didn’t but a new car- because of the reg change. Nothing to do with not having a pot to piss in
Or a ‘but’ to talk sh1t out of!
Yeah Dar look at Tony with his ” ‘but’ to talk sh1t out of!”. The envy of the world.
Tony why don’t you run along and throw stones at happy people or trample flowers. Anything but deal with the raw anger in you.
@Table_Chair_Cat!
Thats not raw anger, it just being a gobshit.
Do they not realise that no one in the country has any money because the banks keep screwing us and the government is taxing the crap out of us. Tax + interest rate hikes = zero expendable cash!
How “unlucky” can a person be, if they can walk in and buy a 2013 car?????
Quelle surprise.
A stupid, selfish, private-sector, greasy-till idea- and an idiotic political blunder.
Very Irish, as the foreigners used to say!
This is an idea that is quiet common all over the world you self loathing loser.
Do away with motor tax and reduce VRT and increase the tax on petrol/diesel. It is the fairest way of taxing the industry. New car sales would increase, and the people who drive more/have a bigger engined car/higher emissions would have to pay slightly higher rates depending on consumption.
that would mean that someone who uses their Micra everyday is effectively paying more tax than someone who uses their Range Rover only on weekends. Not a problem in itself but the opposite of what many people have in mind when they want to change the tax system. Also, why again do we want to increase new car sales versus maintaining older ones properly? I do agree that people who want bigger engines shouldn’t be taxed twice for the privilege, through road tax and again at the pump.
I agree absolutely. Unfortunately a lot of people would be furious at this suggestion.
@Tim why shouldn’t the guy using the moves everyday pay more based on the fuel he uses. Polluter pays!
he should – but most people would have more sympathy for the Micra commuter than the Range Rover driver.
I agree, as per my previous post. It’s an example of where popular sympathy disagrees with ethical policy.
Simple Nobody has money. Most new cars are company cars. Austerity working well. (Not)
Purpose of scheme is not to increase sakes but to spread out cash flow of transactions over both halves of year. Therefore has nothing to do with austerity or affordability.
In 2007/2008, when people wanted a new car they just bought it – usually with all or most of the list price being on loan or hire-purchase.
Since 2008/2009, a whole lot of people have suffered a credit-rating hit, meaning their bank will refuse to give them a car loan like the ones that were thrown around like confetti back in the good oul’ days.
In a lot of cases, banks will not give them a loan at all.
This means that a lot of people are left with no choice but to drive their 2000s car into the ground because they have no other option – hence the falloff in new car sales.
or they could just maintain them. Average car age in the US is greater than in Europe by about 4 years, although the number of classic cars on the road in the States might skew that. Eastern Europeans seem to be able to make their vehicles last longer than in the EU, also by a few years, so maybe it’s more a problem about what people want rather than what we are able to achieve?
Did they really think people were going to buy more cars cos they put 131 on the plate. Idiots
No they didn’t.
This is what happens when you listen to the Healy-Raes! :-P
It looks like this time the Healy rays were right.
A pure gimmic. Should have left well alone
Headline says 131 registration plate doesn’t seem to be working as car sales are down in May?!
This is a ridiculous headline.
Surely it was expected to have a reduction in the last month of the 131 reg while people wait for the 132, just as people used to wait in November and December until January to buy a new car.
New reg system aim is to reduce front ending the sales from January -march, and instead it is splitting it up and spreading it out.
Now we should see a peak at start of 131 and at start of new 132. A reduction in may was always expected.
Headlines like this makes me wonder what else we are being mislead on in The Journal with regard to affairs I know nothing about.
Absolutely. Shocking standards in journalism.
This 131/132 idea was a flipping joke from the offset. What did they expect? Instead of having 1 lull a year, we now have 2. The idiots decision making in this country!!!
I don’t know why so many people buy diesel.
They are no good for city drivers who only do short runs.
In fact, not doing a decent journey every now and then can be bad for a diesel car.
Bob, making all short journeys in a diesel car can be very expensive as the diesel particulate filter will block and fairly soon need to be replaced at, maybe €1400…………and it’s not normally covered under the manufacturer’s warranty. Good car salesmen should advise on this topic. But first you have to find a GCS………of which I’m sure there are many.
Don’t forget blocked egr valves, and dmf failures, another fortune to fix!
Hybrids are the way forward. Diesel is gonna be hit ‘big time’ now everybody drives diesel cars. They’re on to it already, nitrus oxide is the new carbon monoxide. Funny enough, diesel emissions are full of it and the ministers are having a look….. and you know what that means!! Get a a good second-hand Hybrid for the same price as diesel of the same year and avoid paying more tax. Simples.
Why buy a new car anyway when it loses a lump of depreciation the minute you take ownership ? Buy a car 1 or 2 years old, (maybe even a better model). You’ll save some money and the first owner will have sorted out any teething problems. Ah, but the neighbours won’t be so impressed, though.
So I hear 13 is a very unlucky number….hmmmm?
You got it Tom, these very unlucky people buying brand new 13 cars, how unlucky is that?
Aye Pat,
Might as well get the wooden car with wooden engine and it wooden go! :D
So apparently are 131 & 132
Oh got they only realise now. Fail.
People don’t have money to buy 131 or 132! So it doesn’t make a difference ! The whole three digit reg plate was a joke from the start! How many people live in number 13? Have they changed their addresses ?
I’m waiting for the 132;-)
I’m waiting for 141 and then buying and driving it till I reach that age and then have a story in the journal about it.
#WhatGetsUMotivated
Somebody get Sherlock Holmes on the phone asap.
Tehehehehhehe
Well d’uh! That’s the only intelligent response I have to this drop. I personally don’t know anyone who can afford a new car at the current time.
The new reg system was brought in to spread sales more evenly through the year, not to increase sales of 131 cars
a large amount of money to buy a car, the majority of which heads overseas, probably better if we didn’t buy any cars.. get out yer bikes, walk, run, jog, car pool, hitch, borrow some wheels, get a lift, swim
Regardless of what type of registration system is in use if people have no money ,no cars will be sold
Ireland is simply too expensive when it comes to motoring. With extortionate VRT , road tax , depreciation as a result of VRT , high running and service costs. What do the government and SIMI expect. Oops and that little thing AUSTERITY. ..
Manufacturing has dropped, consumption is in decline and cash flow is dwindling. Our leaders have to turn their attention to the specialists in the economic crisis who know what to do to resolve the multitude of problems which have cropped up because of the economic crisis like the ones from the Orlando Bisegna Index who have fixed the problems of unemployment, improved family purchasing power, public finances for counties in financial trouble so as to avoid debt or default.
All cars are imported.
The fewer sold the better for the Irish economy.
Too bad about the dealers.
They had their “scrappage” bonanza (a taxpayer subsidy) so they will be well dressed on the dole queue.
Hyundai going very well fabulous range of cars
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