Car buyers flocking north

Buyers from the Republic are flocking north of the border to buy new and second-hand cars.

Many dealers say that one third of their customers are from south of the border.

Car supermarket giant, Motorpoint, reported a big increase in the number of southerners buying vehicles as sterling declines against the euro. It claims that in the final quarter of 2008, its online operation received nearly 400 calls from Irish customers.

The company said its website had experienced an upsurge in traffic from the Republic, up 23% since September 2008 alone.

“This trend has shown no sign of slowing in 2009 with over 15 calls a week currently being received. In addition, so-called ‘qualifying’ vehicles like the VW Passat are exempt from VAT for EU nationals when purchased in the UK — making the prices even more affordable, ” it said.

Motorpoint online general manager Jon Baird said: “Given the current state of the global economy, we are expecting cross-border trading to become even more active this year.”

Despite cross-border activity, new car sales in the North were down 30% in September. The slump in sales matched a previous record monthly fall in July.