Ireland taken for a ride as car prices fall across Europe

MORE than 15 million cars were bought in Europe in 2006, but new figures show Irish motorists are being taken for a spin when it comes to prices.

Germany remains the largest market in Europe, with total new car registrations in 2006 hitting 3,468,028. This represents an increase of 125,906 units or a 3.8% on 2005, with the Volkswagen Golf consistently the best selling model in the market.

Italy assumed second place in the European market with 2,347,758 units sold compared to 2,265,624 units in 2005. There were 173,373 cars registered in Ireland last year, up 67,000 on the previous year. Europe’s best selling car in 2006 was VW, thanks to several well-received new models — Passat, Jetta, Fox, Eos and Golf Plus — with Opel/Vauxhall, Renault, Ford, Peugeot, Citroen, Fiat, Toyota, Mercedes and BMW making up the top 10.