New car sales down 10%, according to Done Deal report

New car sales are down by 10% for the first half of this year when compared to the same period in 2016.

The latest SIMI/DoneDeal report shows that over 91,000 cars were sold from January to June.

Donegal experienced the largest decline at over 18%, while Cavan had the smallest drop of 4.4%.

Sales in Dublin accounted for over 40% of the total new car market.

The report said rising housing, rent and health insurance costs and uncertainty over Brexit are affecting disposable income spending.

Jim Power, economist and author of the SIMI/DoneDeal report, said: “Financial pressures on consumers and the uncertainty around Brexit are likely to continue to weigh on big-ticket items such as new cars.”

“At the same time, imported used cars will remain popular. For the full year, the likelihood is that new car registrations will be 10% down on last year. This would translate into total new car registrations for the year of 132,000,” he added.