New car sales continue to rise...

robtri

from RTE
http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0609/cars.html

Official figures show that there was another big jump in new car sales in May.
The data also shows that almost as many new cars have been sold so far this year as in the whole of 2009.
The Central Statistics Office said 8,893 new cars were registered in May, up 83.7% from the 4,840 recorded in the same month last year.



The CSO said just over 53,000 new cars have been sold in the first five months of this year, up 41% on the same period last year.
This compares with 54,400 for the whole of last year. The figures are still, however, well behind the levels of 2008.

Of the new cars recorded in May, 28.5% were petrol and 67.7% diesel.
Ford led the way with 1,389 cars, followed by Volkswagen (1,153), Renault (990) and Toyota (828).

The CSO numbers are roughly in line with those from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry, which said last month that the scrappage scheme introduced in the Budget had helped kickstart demand for new cars.
Its figures also showed a 41% increase in new car sales so far this year.

Saab Ed

Even I'll have to admit that its a 41% increase on a very low base, but up is up so thats got to be a good thing

I might ad that his increase does come mostly on the back of private buyers. There were so few hire drives registered this year im suprised there's a car at Dublin airport to be rented at all. Hire cars used to make up a huge proportion of new car reg's.

Max Power1

Saab Ed wrote: »

Even I'll have to admit that its a 41% increase on a very low base, but up is up so thats got to be a good thing

+1
09 was a terrible year by all standards - the industry has come on in leaps and bounds this year by all accounts.

bazz26

I think next years sales figures might be a more accurate reading if the market has turned a corner. This years figures, while I'm sure welcome by those in the trade, includes the Government scrappage scheme and similar discount schemes by manufacturers. It's a once a decade thing that encourages people who normally hold onto their cars for a very long time and don't buy very often.

Next year when these schemes are no more we will see if confidence has actually returned where banks open the purse strings a bit more and people look to trade up their current cars for new ones.

Saab Ed

bazz26 wrote: »

Next year when these schemes are no more we will see if confidence has actually returned where banks open the purse strings a bit more and people look to trade up their current cars for new ones.

:rolleyes: My guess is that the scrappage scheme will be extended for another year atleast.

On the banks, I'd have to say in fairness to them that they are back lending to people. The difference is they're giving money to people who can afford it. Where as last year nobody got money from them , in the past 3 or so months old school lending has returned i.e worth while deposit / trade in , stress testing and shorter terms on older cars. But they are back lending , I know for a fact because I've written a lot of finance this last couple of months........If you're rotten you're Fu£ked though

samsemtex

Of the new cars recorded in May, 28.5% were petrol and 67.7% diesel.

FFS, what is the car world coming to? Why is it only in Europe that dirty noisy clattery diesels are ruling the roost? Almost all sales in Japan, USA and Australia are petrol as is most of asia yet over here we have this fascination with these lumps. God, i hate diesels.

Also what do the remaining 3.8% of cars run on? I very much doubt electric cars are at that stage of market share yet.

R.O.R

samsemtex wrote: »

FFS, what is the car world coming to? Why is it only in Europe that dirty noisy clattery diesels are ruling the roost? Almost all sales in Japan, USA and Australia are petrol as is most of asia yet over here we have this fascination with these lumps. God, i hate diesels.

Also what do the remaining 3.8% of cars run on? I very much doubt electric cars are at that stage of market share yet.

Probably FlexiFuel.

Better get with the Diesel - it's here to stay.

Personally - I'm a big fan of Diesels. Give me a nice, big, torquey diesel with a smooth auto box and I'm happy out.

samsemtex

R.O.R wrote: »

Probably FlexiFuel.

Better get with the Diesel - it's here to stay.

Personally - I'm a big fan of Diesels. Give me a nice, big, torquey diesel with a smooth auto box and I'm happy out.

Surely you would be happier with a nice big torquey petrol. Quieter, smoother, nicer to drive, sound infinitely better, etc. A turbo/supercharged petrol has as much torque as a diesel and is superior in almost every way now. Even fuel economy isnt that huge unless you are driving 15,000 miles a year. That said I'd prefer an n/a petrol but that wwouldnt be torquey.

I don't care what anyone says about new diesels they still are noisy unless in the body of an S class and i hate the way diesels drive. Absolutely characterless. I think hybrids are a much better solution so I really hope they take off more.

unkel

It's interesting to note that Toyota, very firmly the number 1 in the boom years, has gone down to 4th place. Some improvement for Ford and Renault in particular, who were only 8th in 2007 - must be those scrappage Clios

2010 total sales 53k so far

1. Ford
2. VW
3. Renault
4. Toyota

2007 total sales 181k

1. Toyota
2. VW
3. Ford
4. Opel

smash

Has anyone seen many cars even covered by the scrappage scheme? Because I haven't...

maybe I just didn't notice them but 90% of the 2010 reg cars I've seen have been high end BMW, Merc, Jag and Audi.

245

unkel wrote: »

It's interesting to note that Toyota, very firmly the number 1 in the boom years, has gone down to 4th place. Some improvement for Ford and Renault in particular, who were only 8th in 2007 - must be those scrappage Clios

2010 total sales 53k so far

1. Ford
2. VW
3. Renault
4. Toyota

2007 total sales 181k

1. Toyota
2. VW
3. Ford
4. Opel

Fiat used to do well with heavy discounting, Citroen less so but similar for a while. Renault have yet to prove themselves on residuals and are taking that worry out of the equation by offering depreciation up front. I reckon that they have improved quality but I'm not convinced that they're a long term market leading prospect yet.

Toyota really need to wake up.

Zonda999

245 wrote: »

Fiat used to do well with heavy discounting, Citroen less so but similar for a while. Renault have yet to prove themselves on residuals and are taking that worry out of the equation by offering depreciation up front. I reckon that they have improved quality but I'm not convinced that they're a long term market leading prospect yet.

Toyota really need to wake up.

I think this may be the start of toyota feeling the pinch from making uninteresting cars, ford's range has improved a lot in recent years and can surely only get better with the next focus imminent. Renault may be able to hold some of this new market if this new crop turns out to be reliable

unkel

245 wrote: »

Renault have yet to prove themselves on residuals and are taking that worry out of the equation by offering depreciation up front. I reckon that they have improved quality but I'm not convinced that they're a long term market leading prospect yet.

Couldn't agree more. Good scrappage deals and the 5-year extended warranty seem to have resolved any traditional worries out there about resale values and build qualities / reliability problems. If the current generation cars turn out to be reliable, I guess Renault will have found themselves a long term spot as one of the best selling car makers

crosstownk

unkel wrote: »

Couldn't agree more. Good scrappage deals and the 5-year extended warranty seem to have resolved any traditional worries out there about resale values and build qualities / reliability problems. If the current generation cars turn out to be reliable, I guess Renault will have found themselves a long term spot as one of the best selling car makers

Certainly, Renault have have made good progress this year. I'd be concerned that they have gone too far in their attempt to buy the market. The warranty and the scrappage have cost them but have resulted in a decent share of the market. How this will affect residuals when these 10 reg units return for trade in in a few years time could well be the spanner in the works. Time will tell but for now, they have the result they want.

Saab Ed

crosstownk wrote: »

How this will affect residuals when these 10 reg units return for trade in in a few years time could well be the spanner in the works.

Its the question everyone is asking and the answer might be does it matter.

Two reasons :

1) Because they haven't reduced the price of the cars at all, they've just increased the scrappage / trade-in bonus on each vehicle. Every manufacturer does it only Renault really went to town on it this year....

2) My guess is that Renault just stole a mark of everybody else out there with their double scrappage offer. I susspect brands that are licking their wounds wont be so slow out of the traps come the start of next year and I fully expect to see alot more car makers offering similar deals to Renault in 2011

crosstownk

Saab Ed wrote: »

1) Because they haven't reduced the price of the cars at all.

But they have. Maybe not in a direct way but they have reduced the cost to purchase and left the consumer with the belief that they have a car that is worth full retail. Just wait till the same consumer realises what the car is actually worth come trade in time. Irish motorists are obsessed with what their car is worth rather than the cost to change.

Saab Ed

crosstownk wrote: »

But they have. Maybe not in a direct way but they have reduced the cost to purchase and left the consumer with the belief that they have a car that is worth full retail. Just wait till the same consumer realises what the car is actually worth come trade in time. Irish motorists are obsessed with what their car is worth rather than the cost to change.

Yes and No. I suppose its fair to say there's no getting around the fact that they're selling them cheap but they have been very clever with the marketing. People are under the impression its a special offer and not the norm.

Now when it comes to changing up time then one of two things will happen . Either A) it'll cost to much to jump ship so they'll just buy another Renault or the one I think will happen, everybody else will be doing a similar thing next year so the cost to change wont matter.

Cars were over priced everwhere for the last few years and now they are just coming down. Remember the 90's in the UK when cars there were 20 and 30% more expensive than anywhere else in Europe. Then Volvo broke first and dropped their prices by huge amounts. It didn't take long for the others to follow. Well I reckon we're seeing a similar story here at the moment and others will be forced to drop prices or they just wont be at the races.

All in all its great news for the new car buying public

unkel

crosstownk wrote: »

But they have. Maybe not in a direct way but they have reduced the cost to purchase and left the consumer with the belief that they have a car that is worth full retail. Just wait till the same consumer realises what the car is actually worth come trade in time.

They have reduced the cost to purchase. Irish consumers used to be one of the most stupid in Europe in terms of value for money (rip off republic was peoples own fault), but not anymore in 2010. I reckon they know full well what they are getting into in buying a new Renault now. They know the cheap purchase price is radically easing the pain of the (maybe) much lower second hand value (as I think 245 was suggesting). And they reckon any problems with the car will not cost them anything (long warranty)

McSpud

Its interesting to see the sales for April 2010 in particular. While the increase compared with 2009 is double months Feb/March/May (179% v approx 70%) the actual quantity is the lowest for 2010. Was there a reason April 2009 was so low?

2008 figures look like will never be repeated while 2009 was really low. is 2010 is a realistic figure for the future?

Saab Ed

McSpud wrote: »

2008 figures look like will never be repeated while 2009 was really low. is 2010 is a realistic figure for the future?

No I wouldn't say 2010 is to be thought of as the norm. IMO i'd say we have to go up 30-35% on top of that to be a realistic point of were we should be. All of the years between 04 - 07 should really be disregarded.

crosstownk

unkel wrote: »

I reckon they know full well what they are getting into in buying a new Renault now. They know the cheap purchase price is radically easing the pain

I hope so but I do fear for the "it was worth €xx,xxx list but the nice salesman did me a deal". Like I said, time will tell.

I do really hope that the cost to change is becoming the driving (sic) factor with Irish motorists.

Ali Babba

It has to be said though people are sheep, they think they're getting a bargain and they all rush in, the majority of car dealers wouldn't touch a secondhand Renault in a million years and you can be sure the values Renaults will plummet when there's a glut of them released onto the markets in a year or two. The Irish are a funny breed when it comes to buying cars, all that concerns them is the year on the plate rather than having a quality car. I have friends in France and Italy with 10-15 year old cars that are in as new condition, well maintained and respected and the idea of changing them would rarely occur unless they had to whereas here three to five years and it's fit for the scrapheap, but then again again maybe it's the calibre of car that's being bought here.

Zubeneschamali

Ali Babba wrote: »

I have friends in France and Italy with 10-15 year old cars that are in as new condition, ...but then again again maybe it's the calibre of car that's being bought here.

Most people in France and Italy buy exactly the kind of car you are complaining about us buying "like sheep": cheap Renaults, Citroens and Fiats.

In fact, they buy more of them. By comparison, we buy tons of Toyotas.

unkel

Ali Babba wrote: »

I have friends in France and Italy with 10-15 year old cars that are in as new condition, well maintained and respected and the idea of changing them would rarely occu

Yup the brief period of celtic tiger excess in buying brand new cars, never checking or servicing them and then getting rid of them for less than half the costs in one, two or three years time was really shameful. We'll never see that again at that scale

Ali Babba

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

Most people in France and Italy buy exactly the kind of car you are complaining about us buying "like sheep": cheap Renaults, Citroens and Fiats.

In fact, they buy more of them. By comparison, we buy tons of Toyotas.

Really? Any of them I know wouldn't buy Renaults/Citroens/Fiats, they regard them as cheap and nasty, they do have small cars, Clios and Puntos mainly, as a run around for the city or towns but their main cars consist of BMW's, Mercedes and Fords, well the ones I know of anyway.

Saab Ed

unkel wrote: »

We'll never see that again at that scale

Coming from a salesman, I know this will sound strange but thank God. Real worth and value will return to the market place.

congo_90

Saab Ed wrote: »

Coming from a salesman, I know this will sound strange but thank God. Real worth and value will return to the market place.

If that's the case. I'll speak to you in a years time about how many renaults you have on your forecourts and what my car can get me when I trade up with a boards mention

roosterman71

Ali Babba wrote: »

Really? Any of them I know wouldn't buy Renaults/Citroens/Fiats, they regard them as cheap and nasty, they do have small cars, Clios and Puntos mainly, as a run around for the city or towns but their main cars consist of BMW's, Mercedes and Fords, well the ones I know of anyway.

A clio is a Renault. And a punto is a Fiat. So your saying that your friends see them as cheap and nasty, yet buy them anyway??

Ali Babba

roosterman71 wrote: »

A clio is a Renault. And a punto is a Fiat. So your saying that your friends see them as cheap and nasty, yet buy them anyway??

But don't regard them as their main cars just as run arounds.

roosterman71

Ali Babba wrote: »

But don't regard them as their main cars just as run arounds.

You just said they wouldn't buy them as they were cheap and nasty. But they still bought them. Something not right here