New car sales down more than a third on last year

CAR sales during 2008 are continuing to slump dramatically with official figures showing the number of new vehicles licensed in September falling by almost 35% compared with the same month last year.

Data provided by the Central Statistics Office reveals that 4,364 new vehicles were registered last month — down 2,310 on the corresponding month in 2007.

Overall, the number of new private cars licensed in the first nine months of 2008 totalled 141,930 — a drop of just over 17% on the same period last year.

However, the number of second-hand cars licensed so far in 2008 is up by over 5% to 47,575 in a further indication of a slowdown in the motoring industry.

Sales of goods vehicles this year have also shown a 29% decrease compared with the same nine-month period in 2007. About 28,650 new goods vehicles have been registered so far in 2008 in contrast to more than 40,400 last year.

Diesel vehicles were the preferred option of new car buyers last month, accounting for over 57% of all cars sold. Over 3,800 hybrid cars, which use petrol and either biofuel or electricity, have been licensed in the Republic this year, 2% of all new vehicles.

Among the leading car manufacturers, Ford, Toyota, Volkswagen, Opel and Nissan remain the most popular brands in the Republic.

Meanwhile, new results from car makers in Germany, Italy, the US and South Korea have added further to the gloom within the industry against the backdrop of fears about a global recession.

Chrysler announced it was cutting a shift at its Toledo plant in the US while also bringing forward the closure of a plant in Delaware, while General Motors has also warned of staff cuts.

German manufacturer, Daimler, producer of Mercedes-Benz, also lowered its forecast for the year on the back of poor sales figures.

In Italy, Fiat warned that demand for its range of vehicles could fall by up to 20%, with profits dropping by as much as 65% in the worst-case scenario.

South Korea’s biggest car manufacturer, Hyundai, also announced that it expected sales in new markets to fall sharply in 2009 as it reported a 38% fall in third-quarter profits.