New Year car sales surge as registrations boosted by 19%

CAR sales started strongly in 2005 with registrations in January soaring 19% on last year.

January is the busiest month of the year for car sales and this was the strongest start to the year since the industry’s heyday in 2000 when buyers flocked to forecourts in record numbers to get their hands on a double-O registration to mark the new millennium.

Yesterday’s figures, released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), confirmed Toyota’s position at the top of the new car table, as the Japanese maker of the Avensis and Yaris accounted for over 3,100 new registrations, an increase of 15% on January 2004. Ford was in second place on the grid after a healthy 22% hike in registrations, which totalled almost 2,500. There was also good news for Volkswagen, which overtook Nissan and Renault to land third place.