New car sales rose by 42.9 per cent to nearly 160,000 - a rate of approximately 6,100 vehicles every week - in the first six months of the year, according to Central Statistics Office figures yesterday. The CSO said 158,502 private cars were registered from January 1st to June 30th, compared to 110,934 for the same period in 1999.
Total new vehicle registrations, including commercial vehicles, reached 186,752 by June, against 134,582 last year - a 28.4 per cent increase. First licensing of second-hand cars fell by 5,483, a 29.2 per cent decrease.
The Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) said the introduction of a national car test, coupled with economic buoyancy, prompted a sharp increase in new vehicle sales. SIMI chief executive Mr Cyril McHugh said up to 200,000 second-hand vehicles would be scrapped by year's end.
He said sales had been boosted by administrative reforms enabling the Revenue Commissioners to process new-year registrations before January 1st.
"For the first time the new system functioned smoothly, leading to a major fall-off in the traditional January delay."
He said sales growth was concentrated in the small to medium car categories. The SIMI estimated 66 per cent of new sales were in the 1 to 1.4-litre bracket. Rising popularity of smaller vehicles suggested more young people were purchasing.
"Our population is increasing rapidly due to the elimination of high-level emigration over the past few years and the return of thousands of graduates who left our shores in the 1980s. The population is increasing at a fast rate and the increase is mainly in the 20- to 30-year age group, the prime first-time, car-buyer age group."
