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THE Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) has issued the Q2 Motor Industry. The review outlined that new car sales in the first half of 2017 declined by 10% when compared to new cars sold during the first half of 2016. The report highlighted that a combination of factors, including rising housing, rental and health insurance costs and uncertainty surrounding Brexit, were affecting disposable income and making consumers cautious about purchasing big-ticket items.

During the first six months, new car sales declined in every county, with Donegal experiencing the largest decline at 18.6%, while Cavan had the smallest decline of 4.4%. New car sales in Dublin accounted for 40.6% of the total new car market, the report showed. Car registrations in Kerry: Year to date, 2,561 Vs 2016 2,943 down 12.98%

The market share for hybrid vehicles increased from 1.6% to 3.2%. At the same time, there has been a welcome rebalancing of the Diesel/Petrol market shares and it is likely that this trend is set to continue toward equality between the two fuel types. Registrations of new diesel cars, reduced from 71% to 66%. There was a small decrease in new petrol car sales, which were down just 1% and they accounted for 30.2% of all new cars sold.

Imported cars, the vast majority of which are from the UK, continued to be a significant part of the overall car market the review found. It showed that during the first half of the year, 46,004 used cars were imported, which represented an increase of 42.6% compared to the same period in 2016.

The review also highlights that nearly half of all imported used cars during this period were five years or older, while the diesel share of used imports is just over 79%. Sterling weakness and a scarcity of second hand cars due to the collapse in new car sales from 2009 onwards, were the main factors behind the strong increase in used imports.

The report also shows a number of price decreases in the cost of motoring. The average price of a new car in May 2017 was 4.1% lower than a year earlier, while the cost of motor insurance in May 2017 was 8.4% lower than it was a year earlier.