Fewer new cars were sold last month but the outlook remains positive.

Car sales reduction a blip as outlook remains positive

NEW car sales were down 15% last month but the decrease was only a blip as the outlook remains positive, according to official new car sales figures release today (Wednesday, July 1) by car history experts Motorcheck.ie.

Sales for June 2015 slumped by 15% when compared to the same month in 2015, with just 1,439 new cars were registered - 266 fewer than last year. New car registrations had increased for 17 straight months when compared to the same period in previous years until the decrease in June.

However, the drop in sales is being described as nothing to worry about as sales for the year are still 25% ahead of 2014 and projections for the second of the year remain positive. In total, 82,253 new cars have been registered this year, almost 16,500 units more than last year.

Commenting on the figures, Michael Rochford, managing director Motorcheck.ie, said: “The decrease in new car sales in June is just a small blip as more and more new car sales continue to be transferred to the second registration period in July.

“People are still getting used to the concept of the dual registration system and are beginning to realise the consequences of registering a car in July versus June, so more and more people put off the date until the second half of the year as we hit May and June. The outlook of the industry is still very good and we should expect to see a bumper July.”

Elsewhere, commercial vehicle sales (including light commercials and heavy goods vehicles) were up 68% in June and 45% overall for the year. Used imports continued to slide, however, due to the unfavourable exchange rate against Sterling, with used imports down almost 13% or 4,000 units for the year to date.