Sales down 40%

E39MSport

The number of new cars licensed in October fell by more than 40 per cent when compared with the same month last year.
Figures from the Central Statistics Office show there was a total of 2,216 new cars licensed last month, down from 3,742 in October 2010.
Some 71.8 per cent (1,583) of cars licensed in October had diesel engines and 25.8 per cent were petrol (572).
Volkswagen was the most popular brand among consumers, with 805 new cars licensed, followed by Ford (789) and Toyota (587).
The number of new goods vehicles sold also showed a year on year fall, with 645 sold last month compared to 711 in the same period in 2010 – a 9.3 per cent decrease.
A total of 84,937 new cars have been licensed so far in 2011, a 3.4 per cent increase on the same period last year.
The fall in the number of vehicles sold can be partly attributed to the ending of the Government scrappage scheme in June.
Since the scheme ended year on year new car sales were down by 38.9 per cent in September, 31.2 per cent in August and 0.9 per cent in July.
The scheme offered tax relief on vehicle registration tax on the sale of a new car – up to €1,500 last year and €1,250 this year before it ended – when a car 10 years or older was scrapped.
[url][/url]http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2011/1108/breaking28.html

paulmclaughlin

Can't say I'm suprised tbh.

Fixing your link here too bud. http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2011/1108/breaking28.html

kildare.17hmr

been a tough year so far but for me it was better than last year and i have a good few deposits on new vans for next year and a load more quites out so for now the first quater of next year is lookin good for me, fingers crossed

JimmyCrackCorn

That's no surprise allot of emigration and USC hurting incomes across the board.


The 70pc Diesel figure is interesting though.

For the first time since i was 17 i am considering not replacing my car. Normally I would have something on the driveway no matter what.

dr.fuzzenstein

Problem here is that the feeding frenzy is over after the scrappage scheme and the market is saturated.
For some reason people believe that every single market can only ever go up and if it falls, everyone is tearing their hair and wringing their hands saying "I can't understand it! They said it would only ever go up!"
Do we really need a new car every three years?
If it was after the government and the car dealers, yes.
But times are hard and the kind of sales figures we've seen between 2000 and 2008 will never be back again, why should they?
Everyone was on a mad consumer orgy and up to their ears in debt.
It was unsustainable, hopefully won't happen again and maybe people will have learnt that responsible consumerism is a very important part of a healthy economy.
The Irish where like a kid in a candy store with a golden ticket.

STForSale

The up side is there are some good deals going on Finance, particurlary VW and Ford. With the cheaper interest rate the cost of financing a car over 5 years is actually less than it was with scrappage.

Bodhan

There's a lot of factors at work here, the Scrappage scheme ended, there's always a natural fall off at this time of year and there's a big budget on the way soon.
People are trying to squeeze as long as they can from the car that they have plus at this time of the year people wait until 2012 for the new plate.

I've had a huge rise on enquiries on the site asking about the new model cars and where people can get the best deal, so there's plenty of buyers out there; they just need to find the best deal.

E39MSport

Renault don't seem to making much noise about their offers any more.

Either that or they just go in one ear and out the other now.

kildare.17hmr

E39MSport wrote: »

Renault don't seem to making much noise about their offers any more.

Either that or they just go in one ear and out the other now.

I lost a customer for a sprinter who bought a master because of the "unbeatable price" earlier in the year, 5 yr warranty and all that. Have an order in for Jan for a new sprinter for him after 4 trips back to renault with different issues and the van in his own words being "a piece of crap"

Theanswers

kildare.17hmr wrote: »

I lost a customer for a sprinter who bought a master because of the "unbeatable price" earlier in the year, 5 yr warranty and all that. Have an order in for Jan for a new sprinter for him after 4 trips back to renault with different issues and the van in his own words being "a piece of crap"

I completely disagree with the Renault part of your post.
The renault do have an unbeatable price, Mercedes vans are huge money and we've had two sprinters 2002 and 2006 each with over 380,000kms. They weren't to good themselves. Also the dealer prices with mercedes vans are huge! Ever wonder why there's not many being sold?

Renault on the other hand are great value for money have three currently 2010 and 2x 2011. Great yokes, never gave any trouble each does approx. 450-500kms a day no trouble. 5 yr unlimited mileage warranty is great, as gearboxes, turbos etc will go. Some have around 100,000kms on them at this stage, still going strong.

kildare.17hmr

Theanswers wrote: »

I completely disagree with the Renault part of your post.
The renault do have an unbeatable price, Mercedes vans are huge money and we've had two sprinters 2002 and 2006 each with over 380,000kms. They weren't to good themselves.

They cant be that bad if they had that much mileage on them and of course they are going to be more expensive, they are much better built, more comfortable and more reliable. they are also the best selling van in the whole of europe, why? because they see the benefit in spending the extra few quid at the start and having the best van on the road which also has the best 2nd hand value when it comes time to change compaired to any other van.

Also the dealer prices with mercedes vans are huge! Ever wonder why there's not many being sold?

Prices have come down an awful lot and looking at my orders for next year already and speaking to collegues in other merc dealerships we are on for a good year next year

Renault on the other hand are great value for money have three currently 2010 and 2x 2011. Great yokes, never gave any trouble each does approx. 450-500kms a day no trouble. 5 yr unlimited mileage warranty is great, as gearboxes, turbos etc will go. Some have around 100,000kms on them at this stage, still going strong

I havent had much dealings with them, iv test drove all of them and tbh they didnt do much for me. One of my friends sells them in a reanult dealer down the country and hates them:rolleyes:

unkel

Year to date sales are a tiny bit better than last year but still less than half the number of cars are sold compared to '07

I predict we will never see '07 figures again. We'll do well if we see 80% of '07 figures within 10 years...

Atlantic Dawn

Another issue is reliablilty of existing cars, most cars under 10 years old and some beyond that are pretty much as reliable as a person needs once they are looked after so for a lot of people who just want something to get them from A to B will hold on to it in these times.

kildare.17hmr

unkel wrote: »

Year to date sales are a tiny bit better than last year but still less than half the number of cars are sold compared to '07

Commercials last year were down 90% on the peak in 07:eek: we sold twice as many vans the first 6 months of this year than we did all of last year which is still very low compaired to 07 figures.

I predict we will never see '07 figures again. We'll do well if we see 80% of '07 figures within 10 years...

I think your right

unkel

kildare.17hmr wrote: »

Commercials last year were down 90% on the peak in 07:eek:

Private cars were down 70% in '09 compared to '07 peak

Well at least commercials are picking up better than private cars. Commerials are a better indicator of how the economy is really doing, private cars are more to with consumer confidence. So there is hope

kildare.17hmr

The rise in enquires is huge so hopefully its a sign things are on the up even more. There is money out there its just getting people to part with it thats the hard bit! Quotes are taking a lot longer to turn into sales, i find myself chasing people for weeks now to make a decision but hey it gets me out of the office

How are the new car order for jan lookin lads? what brands are doing well?

Chuck Stone

The Market is correcting rather than collapsing.

Hand wringing about it is a bit like being concerned about about an obese man losing a couple of stone.

Outkast_IRE

kildare.17hmr wrote: »

The rise in enquires is huge so hopefully its a sign things are on the up even more. There is money out there its just getting people to part with it thats the hard bit! Quotes are taking a lot longer to turn into sales, i find myself chasing people for weeks now to make a decision but hey it gets me out of the office

How are the new car order for jan lookin lads? what brands are doing well?

I think a lot of it too is more people are asking for quotes from more sources to find the best quote.
Before more people would nearly walk in and decide there and then no problem.

kildare.17hmr

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

I think a lot of it too is more people are asking for quotes from more sources to find the best quote.
Before more people would nearly walk in and decide there and then no problem.

There is that too but alot more of the enquires are turning into sales

AstonMartin

Why are the dealers in this thread so optimistic about next year when all the economic indicators say things will get worse?

kildare.17hmr

AstonMartin wrote: »

Why are the dealers in this thread so optimistic about next year when all the economic indicators say things will get worse?

big increase in orders and enquiries for next year and similar story with most others i speak to. Id rather be optimistic and sell a few than no pissed off and not bothered. i dont think it could get any worse than last year.

galwaytt

AstonMartin wrote: »

Why are the dealers in this thread so optimistic about next year when all the economic indicators say things will get worse?

'economic indicators' ? You mean the banks, economists, etc ?

Because they don't know their arse from their elbow - and this country is living proof of it. They all either lied through their teeth for the last X years, or, they believed what they were saying - but were just plain wrong and don't have a clue.

So, wtf would you give them credence now, for ?

If you want 'economic indicators' - talk to the people who buy & sell & trade in business every day, in a variety of sectors. Here on Motors, you're talking to the motor trade -so listen to them. Pop over to Construction & Planning (where I work...), and ask in there, about that. My wife works in retail. Ask people in there, for that.

But as for taking anything form anyone working even remotely related to banks or economists, as a guide on anything - you must be joking............

kildare.17hmr

Well said lad

Theanswers

kildare.17hmr wrote: »

Theanswers wrote: »

They cant be that bad if they had that much mileage on them and of course they are going to be more expensive, they are much better built, more comfortable and more reliable. they are also the best selling van in the whole of europe, why? because they see the benefit in spending the extra few quid at the start and having the best van on the road which also has the best 2nd hand value when it comes time to change compaired to any other van.

Prices have come down an awful lot and looking at my orders for next year already and speaking to collegues in other merc dealerships we are on for a good year next year

I havent had much dealings with them, iv test drove all of them and tbh they didnt do much for me. One of my friends sells them in a reanult dealer down the country and hates them:rolleyes:

Yes prices may have came down but they are not low enough.

Any van/ car will do 400,000 kms plus if well minded. If I recall often enough the mercedes had a computer which If something went wrong one had to pull in and wait for a number of minutes for it to reset before driving off...

Now I'm not saying there all bad, but I honestly cannot agree that there the best van on the road.

Renaults of past were poor yes I will admit, however they have come along way in the last few years.
Many haulage companies appreciate the 5yr unlimited milage warranty. We hope to get 700,000kms out of one van warranted. Now that is very good.

If mercedes are so confident in their build quality why not offer the same? It would definitely increase sales.

One must remember that if something goes, which it will in all makes when doing high mileage it often is quite expensive. At least with the renaults you dont have to worry about the standard large breakdowns 2 + yrs from now.

Best of luck next year with sales!
As someone said a good commercial market is a sign of a good economy.

Wolverine_1999

Good.

kildare.17hmr

Theanswers wrote: »

kildare.17hmr wrote: »

Yes prices may have came down but they are not low enough.

Depends who you ask tbh, some people will never be happy with the price but most people im talking to think the prices are very keen.

Any van/ car will do 400,000 kms plus if well minded.

But how many actually make it there? not many and in fact the vans i see with that kind of mileage on them and still going are sprinters.

If I recall often enough the mercedes had a computer which If something went wrong one had to pull in and wait for a number of minutes for it to reset before driving off...

Not sure on that one but ill find out. if its the 315 sprinter your talking about it was troublesum and has been discontinued also most have had upgrades installed to fix the problem

Now I'm not saying there all bad, but I honestly cannot agree that there the best van on the road.

I really have to disagree, before i was in car sales i was a rep on the road selling all kinds of things and driving a van, i had em all in the sprinter size and IMO even then i thought they were by far the best

Renaults of past were poor yes I will admit, however they have come along way in the last few years.
Many haulage companies appreciate the 5yr unlimited milage warranty. We hope to get 700,000kms out of one van warranted. Now that is very good.

I cant argue with the warranty its great BUT I really cant see it working out well for them because every single one of them is gonna come back and its gonna cost renault a fortune nd i suspect they will not honour a bumper to bumper warranty, Just my opinion and i hope im wrong by the way. I really cant see you getting near that mileage out of them tbh, the warranty is grand if anything goes wrong but what about the down time of the vehicle? your going to have more expence renting a van during that time and as the mileage goes up i can see the downtimes being alot longer

If mercedes are so confident in their build quality why not offer the same? It would definitely increase sales.

trust me iv asked that exact question and it has been asked to mercedes. We are offering in jan a 3 year warranty and 3 year servicing

One must remember that if something goes, which it will in all makes when doing high mileage it often is quite expensive. At least with the renaults you dont have to worry about the standard large breakdowns 2 + yrs from now.

Thats all well and good but if its going to break down more often its not much of a bennifit as per above

Best of luck next year with sales!
As someone said a good commercial market is a sign of a good economy

Cheers appriciate that and if you ever fancy some more decent vans drop me a pm:D:p