New car registrations up 13%

New car registrations for January to June 2005 stand at 137,163, an increase of 12.9% on the same period in 2004, according to figures released today by the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI).

Commenting on the statistics, Cyril McHugh, chief executive of the SIMI said: “While SIMI welcome the very healthy growth in new car sales for the first six months of 2005, it is necessary to point out the huge contribution which Irish motorists have made to the Exchequer over the same period.

"The total tax take from new car purchases from January to June is made up of €876m in Vehicle Registration Tax (VRT) and €438m in VAT. These combined at €1.3bn make up approximately 7% of overall Government Revenue.

"This is a huge proportion of Exchequer returns from a single industry sector.”

The SIMI statistics show that total passenger car registrations for the month of June were 14,439 (up 8.93% on the same period in 2004).

Year to date statistics (to end of June 2005) show passenger car registrations at 137,163 (up 12.91% on same period last year).