Booming Irish car sales expected to continue into 2015

A bumper year for new Irish car sales in 2014 looks likely to continue in 2015. The latest figures for 2014, from Motorcheck.ie, show the market is up 30% on 2013 figures.

The industry had predicted total sales of some 85,000-90,000 units at the start of the year. But the final figures have smashed this original prediction with 96,254 new cars sold in 2014.

That is more than 22,000 extra registrations than in 2013, or an increase of 30%.

Commenting on the figures Michael Rochford, managing director of Motorcheck.ie, said: "It's been a really positive year for the motor trade all round. Not only has there been a large increase in new car sales, new commercial vehicle sales and motorcycle sales are way ahead of 2013."

"And the used car market has also surged ahead of previous years volumes," he added.

Volkswagen continue to be the the top make for consumers - with the VW ahead of the next highest manufacturers of Toyota, Ford, Hyundai and Nissan.

While used car sales, which had remained relatively unchanged for the past number of years, increased by almost 50,000.

More than 835,000 used vehicles changed hands during the year, which is an increase of 6.3% on last year.

New commercial sales also finished the year on a high - up 43% on 2013 with more than 21,000 units sold.

Early indications are that the positive trends will continue in 2015 - with new car sales set to pass 100,000. This was last achieved in 2008 when 142,000 units were sold.

The deputy director-general of the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) is Brian Cooke.

He told Lunchtime here on Newstalk why 2014 was such a good year for sales.