New car sales 2012 - Ireland vs the UK

Leonard Hofstadter

They really do say it all when it comes to the average motorist's priorities in Ireland compared to the UK.

Some interesting statistics:

- Alfa has only 43% of the market share in Ireland that it has in the UK
- BMW has 2/3s of the market share in Ireland that it has in the UK, a similar figure is true for Audi
- Toyota unsurprisingly have three times the market share here compared to Britain, despite the fact that most Toyotas are built in Britain!
- Skoda and Hyundai are considerably more popular in Ireland than in the UK (2.5 times more in the case of Skoda)
- Despite Ford being a company with many Irish connections, they are considerably more popular in the UK, and were the UK's number one brand last year
- VW was Ireland's number one in 2012, that's the first ever time that has happened, they're more popular in Ireland than in the UK anyway

- Mercs have about twice the popularity in the UK that they have in Ireland, they're really falling away popularity wise now in Ireland
- Renault have more than three times the market share in Ireland than they have in the UK, that's some turnaround from before (just goes to show what all the discounting does)
- Opel/Vauxhall have a much greater proportion of the UK market than the Irish market, they're number 2 in the UK (Toyota unsurprisingly are number 2 here)

I will get to the top 10 most sold cars too, that's even more interesting.

Got the UK figures from http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/, the Irish figures are readily available from the SIMI's website.

McGrath5

It would be interesting to see how many new BMW's sold in Ireland are 520d's compared to the UK.

R.O.R

Perfect Choice wrote: »

It would be interesting to see how many new BMW's sold in Ireland are 520d's compared to the UK.

I would suspect that there is a much higher percentage of ED 520's sold in the UK as opposed to Ireland, for much the same reason as the 320 ED is a great seller over there.

Leonard Hofstadter

I've included the top 10 for both countries, as well as the petrol vs diesel.

While diesel has a market share of just over 50% in the UK, it's nearly 75% in Ireland. Petrol has more than double the market share in the UK that it has in the Emerald Isle.

The top 10 cars in Ireland depress me, ffs a Renault Fluence was Ireland's 10th best selling car last year, and an Auris was the 9th best selling car despite the fact that it was being replaced:(.

MuppetCheck

I don't even see the point in comparing the two countries to be honest. So many different variables affect purchasing patterns. Our market is miniscule compared to the UK meaning any distributer won't bring in anything bar what will sell,the taxation is structured differently, distributers have different strategies, there are currency differences.

bazz26

R.O.R wrote: »

I would suspect that there is a much higher percentage of ED 520's sold in the UK as opposed to Ireland, for much the same reason as the 320 ED is a great seller over there.

Yep and BMW specifically introduced these models to the UK market because their low motor tax and BIK rates make them a massive appeal to company car drivers. They probably outsell the likes of the Mondeo and Insignia over there.

captainspeed

captainspeed wrote: »

I've included the top 10 for both countries, as well as the petrol vs diesel.

While diesel has a market share of just over 50% in the UK, it's nearly 75% in Ireland. Petrol has more than double the market share in the UK that it has in the Emerald Isle.

The top 10 cars in Ireland depress me, ffs a Renault Fluence was Ireland's 10th best selling car last year, and an Auris was the 9th best selling car despite the fact that it was being replaced:(.

The diesel thing here is only to do with road tax where before 2008 most cars sold were petrol to the best of my knowledge.

Most people do not drive the distances to make diesel a worthwhile choice.

Saab Ed

I wonder how the ratios stack up with private sales compared to fleet sales between our countries! I'd say that there's a far larger proportion of private sales (relative of course) here than in the UK, hence the greater number of family cars (as opposed to Junior exes or superminis) on our top ten list. Could be wrong though.

Marcusm

Another way of looking at the numbers is that almost 25% of Irish car sales were of VAG group!

ofcork

bazz26 wrote: »

Yep and BMW specifically introduced these models to the UK market because their low motor tax and BIK rates make them a massive appeal to company car drivers. They probably outsell the likes of the Mondeo and Insignia over there.

I believe the 3 series was indeed outselling the mondeo/passat etc in the uk a few years ago.

Leonard Hofstadter

Saab Ed wrote: »

I wonder how the ratios stack up with private sales compared to fleet sales between our countries! I'd say that there's a far larger proportion of private sales (relative of course) here than in the UK, hence the greater number of family cars (as opposed to Junior exes or superminis) on our top ten list. Could be wrong though.

The split is almost 50:50 in the UK between private and company car purchases.

Supergurrier

No comparison, different tax systems make it pointless to even try

captainspeed

captainspeed wrote: »

.......

While diesel has a market share of just over 50% in the UK, it's nearly 75% in Ireland. Petrol has more than double the market share in the UK that it has in the Emerald Isle.

..............(.

Are those statements not contradictory?

Anyway, in general, despite the comparison of 2012 sales not being flattering to the national car park does it not suggest people are perhaps living within their means? The average new car buyer in Ireland probably can't justify the expenditure to finance a BMW, Audi etc, as mentioned lots more of the UK cars are maybe rep mobiles