Ireland's confused austerity

Almaviva

Ireland August 2013:
14% unemployment, fiscal policy being controlled by foreign bailout troika, basket case banks, ever increasing taxes, government still hasnt balanced the books and cannot afford to run the country, cutbacks and decreasing levels of health, education and state services, 20% of mortgage holders are in arrears, 10 people emigrate every hour to find employment.

Ireland August 2013:
Highest selling new car : BMW 5 Series.

WTF is wrong with that country ?

emo72

this is a great little country for some people

Mena

We're not all poor. Plus the 5 series is pretty reasonable cost wise in the poverty spec they sell it for here (520d), that, and the new to the Irish market PCP scheme sells more.

Inquitus

I stopped paying my mortgage so I could get a new 5 series.......

wazky

Its has BMW badge, none of that Chinese crap yano.

Fr_Dougal

Think about the demographics of who would buy a BMW 5 Series, also bear in mind it has a great resale value and is in one of the cheapest motor tax brackets.

Amirani

Presumably this is distorted by the fact that low and middle income people aren't buying cars at all? Rich people are dominating the new - car buying market, hence the biggest selling car is one common amongst rich people?

Mena

Rich people don't buy a 5 series...

Amirani

Mena wrote: »

Rich people don't buy a 5 series...

Relatively rich people I'm referring to - earning above the average industrial wage.

Johro

Never bought new in my life. You got a new car, one year later the value has halved.

RayM

Very few people can afford new cars at all. Maybe those who can are the type of people who can afford expensive ones. I presume the number of BMW 5 Series being sold in 2013 is minuscule compared to seven or eight years ago.

kneemos

Rep and management cars are they not?

shopaholic01

Why do some people assume that everybody in Ireland is broke? A lot of people are very well off.

crosstownk

I'd question the BMW figures.

In August BMW sold 346 passenger vehicles compared to the 626 sold by VW (in 1st place). Year to date, VW, the leader in Irish market share, have sold 10,454 passenger vehicles compared to BMWs 3,122. BMW are in 11th place in Irish market share.

Maybe the 5 series is the leader in it's market segment but that segment is relatively small.

Eight Ball

Plenty of people doing well out of this recession. The gap between the haves and have nots is getting bigger after every budget.

Billy86

Fr_Dougal wrote: »

Think about the demographics of who would buy a BMW 5 Series, also bear in mind it has a great resale value and is in one of the cheapest motor tax brackets.

Reasonably cheap to insure for what it is also (if you've got full licence for a few years and 5yr bonus). The people really feeling the sting are not buying cars first hand cars to begin with, by-and-large.

kippy

Johro wrote: »

Never bought new in my life. You got a new car, one year later the value has halved.

Well done,
You do realise that you'd never be able to buy a second hand car if someone didn't buy a new car?

Almaviva

crosstownk wrote: »

I'd question the BMW figures.

http://www.mediacontact.ie/mediahq/motorcheck/61704/bmw-5-series-most-popular-model-in-august-as-sales-overall-increase-by-19.html

Almaviva

kippy wrote: »

Well done,
You do realise that you'd never be able to buy a second hand car if someone didn't buy a new car?

At a guess, I would say he has figured that bit out.
Thinking of the person who paid for it new and the discount you are then getting buying it second hand just makes the purchase even more satisfying.

Roger_007

Almaviva wrote: »

Ireland August 2013: ................ 20% of mortgage holders are in arrears,...............

Ireland August 2013:
Highest selling new car : BMW 5 Series.

WTF is wrong with that country ?

I see the connection now.......:D.

kippy

Almaviva wrote: »

At a guess, I would say he has figured that bit out.
Thinking of the person who paid for it new and the discount you are then getting buying it second hand just makes the purchase even more satisfying.

Indeed,
Am sure the people buying the new car are happy out with their warranty, new car feel, etc etc as well and realise the value of the car drops after they buy yet, yet chose to buy it new anyway.

Point being, if there weren't people out there buying new there wouldn't be a second hand market for the OP to buy in, see recent threads on the shortage of certain cars recently......

crosstownk

Almaviva wrote: »

http://www.mediacontact.ie/mediahq/motorcheck/61704/bmw-5-series-most-popular-model-in-august-as-sales-overall-increase-by-19.html

Fair enough. The 5 series accounted for 239 of BMWs 346 units. Impressive.

One month doesn't make a year. BMW is the 11th most popular brand in Ireland. I suppose we'll need to watch the coming months and see if the trend continues.

I doubt it will but for now, yes it's August's most popular model - not 2013's - yet......

RiverOfLove

RayM wrote: »

Very few people can afford new cars at all. Maybe those who can are the type of people who can afford expensive ones. I presume the number of BMW 5 Series being sold in 2013 is minuscule compared to seven or eight years ago.

Nevermind a car. I buy one good pair of shoes a year and my runners are now developing holes in their soles and I have no idea when I'm going to have 150/160 euro to buy a new pair.

Roger_007

RiverOfLove wrote: »

Nevermind a car. I buy one good pair of shoes a year and my runners are now developing holes in their soles and I have no idea when I'm going to have 150/160 euro to buy a new pair.

According to Johro's theory,you really should be buying second-hand shoes.......:D

kneemos

Roger_007 wrote: »

According to Johro's theory,you really should be buying second-hand shoes.......:D

He already has second hand shoes so he should be well pleased.

Billy86

RiverOfLove wrote: »

Nevermind a car. I buy one good pair of shoes a year and my runners are now developing holes in their soles and I have no idea when I'm going to have 150/160 euro to buy a new pair.

Well spending €150/160 on runner was probably your first mistake...

RiverOfLove

Billy86 wrote: »

Well spending €150/160 on runner was probably your first mistake...

No, no, no, no, no, no

I like echo shoes and runners. They last a good year and for someone who's also on foot, that's good. Where as with other brands, I find that they fall to pieces after 8/9 months. With store brand shoes like dunnes and pennies, I don't even go there. I remember in my student days spending something like 30 or 40 quid on runners in dunnes and they fell apart after about 2 months.

Spring Onion

The people with cash at the moment are older people (50+) with small or zero mortgages and a good pension - especially retired public sector workers.
There is also a group of 20-somethings on very good salaries and no debt (Accountants, Teachers, IT Programmers) who are very reluctant to buy houses and instead buy flash cars.

spank_inferno

Has anyone mentioned that the 5 series is not the biggest selling car?

Almaviva

Spring Onion wrote: »

very reluctant to buy and instead buy

Spring Onion

Almaviva wrote: »

sorry reluctant to buy houses (because the 'market' is skewed for various reasons and they fear a double dip)

RobbingBandit

Old Irish adage, higher purchase agreement.

Johro

kippy wrote: »

Well done,
You do realise that you'd never be able to buy a second hand car if someone didn't buy a new car?

Look, just because I don't, doesn't mean everyone else follows. Plenty of fools in the world buying brand spanking new.
Well done indeed...

LordSutch

one tiny example . . .

Is it my imagnation or are there Apple iPhones everywhere? and if so, how much are they? hardly the sign of austerity I would think, and yet we are told that Irish people are strapped for cash, wages have been reduced, pensions slashed, & monthly mortage repayments remain outstanding, yet BMW 5 series cars & Apple iPhones are selling really well . . .

confused austerity?

awec

Almaviva wrote: »

Ireland August 2013:
14% unemployment, fiscal policy being controlled by foreign bailout troika, basket case banks, ever increasing taxes, government still hasnt balanced the books and cannot afford to run the country, cutbacks and decreasing levels of health, education and state services, 20% of mortgage holders are in arrears, 10 people emigrate every hour to find employment.

Ireland August 2013:
Highest selling new car : BMW 5 Series.

WTF is wrong with that country ?

That'll be a BMW 5 series with windy windows, a cassette player and the cheapest interior finish possible.

Augmerson

Almaviva wrote: »

Ireland August 2013:
14% unemployment, fiscal policy being controlled by foreign bailout troika, basket case banks, ever increasing taxes, government still hasnt balanced the books and cannot afford to run the country, cutbacks and decreasing levels of health, education and state services, 20% of mortgage holders are in arrears, 10 people emigrate every hour to find employment.

Ireland August 2013:
Highest selling new car : BMW 5 Series.

WTF is wrong with that country ?

Well, I'll take a wild guess that some people are pretty much broke, and other people are not broke. And those people who are not broke and spending their money and buying new stuff. Just because the Gov't is cutting back doesn't mean rich people will. They've got money, they are doing good. Don't ask me how they've got it.