More positive news as the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) and Done Deal have launched their first Quarterly Motor Industry Review of 2015. The report revealed that the strong trend of recovery seen in the Motor Industry in 2014 (96,344 registrations) has continued, with new car registrations in the first three months of the year showing a 29.68% increase to reach 64,714. Registrations of Light Commercial Vehicles increased by 58.6% in Q1 2015, while registrations of Heavy Commercial Vehicles declined by 20.7% in Q1 2015. The SIMI and DoneDeal report also highlights that the cost of motoring has seen a decline in the first quarter of 2015.
Petrol prices are down by 10.9%; Diesel prices by 11.8% and the average price of a new car has also declined by 2.5%. Motor insurance costs however increased by 14%. Average carbon emissions of vehicles registered in the first quarter of 2015 were 1.9% lower than the same quarter in 2014 and 28.6% lower than 2008 levels reflecting more environmentally friendly cars on Irish roads. Although Imported used cars show a fall of 41% (575), used car sales by the motor trade increased by 15% in Q1 to 66,364 from 56,173 in Q1 2014. Cars taken in to Dealers stock in the 1st Quarter also increased by 15% from 63402 in 2014 to 74,710. The Exchequer has collected €574 million from new and used car sales in Quarter 1 of 2015, a 26.5% increase on the same period in 2014.
