New car sales down 6% in 2013

roosterman71

Not surprised. Still overpriced. Proof in the numbers as more 2nd hand cars were imported in 2013

New car sales were down by over 6% year-on-year.

According to MotorCheck.ie, the industry had predicted total sales of 75,000, but the final figures are about 1,000 shy of that figure. Commercial sales, however, increased by about 3%.

Volkswagen was the top new car brand, with the Golf the market leader with sales for the model up 5% on 2012, with Ford in second place.
The used car market, however, is still performing. When all new and used vehicles registered last year are accounted for, registrations were actually up 4.8% from 2012.

2013 also saw a 25% increase on the number of used vehicles imported into the country. Motorcheck said this can be attributed to a shortage of used cars for sale in Ireland.

Link

bazzachazza

And bank interest rates for loans are ridiculous, most are 10% compared to half that before the bang.

Greenmachine

So much for splitting the year into 131 and 132 plates to stimulate sales.

Truckermal

Some people just cannot afford a new car simple as, I could afford a new car but the depreciation sickens me especially when you see the bargains that are to be had in used barges etc etc.

hallo dare

Greenmachine wrote: »

So much for splitting the year into 131 and 132 plates to stimulate sales.

That was one seriously fcuking stupid idea!!!

colm_mcm

Greenmachine wrote: »

So much for splitting the year into 131 and 132 plates to stimulate sales.

Who's to say the sales wouldn't have been worse on 13 plates?

porsche boy

Greenmachine wrote: »

So much for splitting the year into 131 and 132 plates to stimulate sales.

Ruined a perfectly good registration system, it's simplicity was the envy of Europe when it came out.

I was always dubious about SIMI suggesting it was to stimulate sales. Sales wont increase until comsumer confidence increases and credit is readily available.

I believe the reason was to ensure a better split of revenue across the year, it's no secret many many dealerships are struggling and the last quarter is financially a disaster in sales.

Greenmachine

colm_mcm wrote: »

Who's to say the sales wouldn't have been worse on 13 plates?

Yes but the results were supposed to speak where themselves, instead what we have is inconclusive.

hognef

porsche boy wrote: »

Ruined a perfectly good registration system, it's simplicity was the envy of Europe when it came out.

The envy of Europe? Seriously? Where dou you have that from?

Either way, surely the main reason for splitting the year wasn't to increase sales, but rather to spread sales throughout the year, which is how it works in countries that don't have a system that everyone is envious of... And, in fairness, it seems to have achieved that goal.

Better for the businesses, better for the employees, better for the Revenue (as you've stated already).

bazzachazza

Greenmachine wrote: »

Yes but the results were supposed to speak where themselves, instead what we have is inconclusive.

Only a dealer can tell whether it worked or not.

I agree a ridiculous system

JerCotter7

hognef wrote: »

The envy of Europe? Seriously? Where dou you have that from?

Either way, surely the main reason for splitting the year wasn't to increase sales, but rather to spread sales throughout the year, which is how it works in countries that don't have a system that everyone is envious of... And, in fairness, it seems to have achieved that goal.

Better for the businesses, better for the employees, better for the Revenue (as you've stated already).

What's the point of spreading sales? If a garage budgets surely more income in the year is better than less income even if it is more spread out.

road_high

Simple as less money around. With taxes at c 50% for "higher" earners that would normally buy new cars there isn't the disposable income to sustain sales anywhere near where they were pre-recession. The host of new charges like the property tax are not helping either.
Cars are still in big demand of course so the used sales rise is not surprising. I think people are much more frugal (even those that have the money).

Definitely an atmosphere of "make and do". In my own family my sister has an 05 Avensis but she reckons why bother change it as it's very reliable and
decent spec. Many cars in this bracket are still excellent cars giving good service so why spents 1,000s on something that is going to do the very same job (possibly evn less well)?. This wouldn't have been the pervasive attidude during the boom where a new plate was a must-have for many!

L-M

I like the system. It's certainly not going to decrease sales, and at least the cars that are registered in Dec have some hope vs. Cars registered in Jan.

That said, there's a lot more at play as to why new sales are down. The amount of dealers bringing in high end almost new Uk stuff is definitely playing the part. I would be under the impression the used market for quality cars is booming.

hognef

JerCotter7 wrote: »

What's the point of spreading sales? If a garage budgets surely more income in the year is better than less income even if it is more spread out.

Points of spreading sales would be, off the top of my head, 1) more predictable and stable employment (good both for employer and employee, and probably also the taxpayer), 2) more availability of cars throughout the year.

Also, the new system is hardly to blame for the overall reduced sales this year.

Odyssey 2005

Ordered a new car about 6 weeks ago. Was asking the dealer about sales in 14 compared to 13. He told me he sold 10 new units in Jan13. At the time of ordering the car he had in excess of 30 new car orders off Jan14.

ofcork

Id say a lot of the imports are speccced cars and some petrols which cant be got here.

Outkast_IRE

I know a garage doing really well by heading over to the UK a few times a year with a few of his mechanics, and have it organised with a garage over there to view a large selection of their cars.
All the cars he looks at are cars which are popular here but with better specs.

For example ford focus with extras, such as alloys air con etc are one of his favourites to bring in.
He usually has one of those car transport trucks organised to pick up the ones he chooses there and then and bring them back.

He says they sell straight away as with all the extras they are a real appealing buy in the 2nd hand market. Whereas if he goes looking here for cars all he can find is 99% of the time is standard spec cars.

ofcork

Ive been looking at 2012 avensis and a lot of the Toyota dealers are bringing in uk cars,you would think there would be plenty here as the imports are all diesels as well.

kefir32

I will never buy a car new in this country again, far too appealing to import a car from the UK, the difference in spec is eye watering.Even in terms of getting automatic options in cars I think the UK is the way to go.
Maybe if enough people do the same the govt will remove the ridiculous VRT system.New cars are far too expensive here, alas I will dream on

swarlb

kefir32 wrote: »

I will never buy a car new in this country again, far too appealing to import a car from the UK, the difference in spec is eye watering.Even in terms of getting automatic options in cars I think the UK is the way to go.
Maybe if enough people do the same the govt will remove the ridiculous VRT system.New cars are far too expensive here, alas I will dream on

According to your profile your location IS in the UK. Regardless of that, is it really cheaper to import a new car including VRT from the UK, than to purchase one here ?

bazz26

kefir32 wrote: »

I will never buy a car new in this country again, far too appealing to import a car from the UK, the difference in spec is eye watering.Even in terms of getting automatic options in cars I think the UK is the way to go.
Maybe if enough people do the same the govt will remove the ridiculous VRT system.New cars are far too expensive here, alas I will dream on

They make a nice bit of revenue from the VRT on used imports, why would they get rid of it if more people imported?

Nixer Jim

New car orders for 2014 are up between 25 & 40% depending on which marque you are selling.

Some of interesting points:

A) Confidence has returned to the new car buyer.

Superstition is having an impact on 2014 orders. People who might have bought a new car last year, but held off because of the 13 plate, have ordered cars for 2014.

C) Premium brands are now the mainstream and are very much prostituting themselves. See BMW free leather on a 3 Series for 2014 as proof. Nobody pre-reged more cars at the end of 2013 than the VW group in and effort to gain market share. Wanna retain value in your new purchase next year then think outside the box, everybody has an A4 now. Premium is no longer exclusive.

SJT1

I would love to see the figures on how many 131 and 132 regs are still sitting in dealers unsold!

L-M

Have a look on carzone and see for yourself.

I would more look at 131 as any 132s could just be Demos.

Anan1

Greenmachine wrote: »

Yes but the results were supposed to speak where themselves, instead what we have is inconclusive.

No matter what the results were it would have been impossible to determine how much of the change was due to the new registration system - there are too many other variables involved.

SJT1

Limerick man wrote: »

Have a look on carzone and see for yourself.

I would more look at 131 as any 132s could just be Demos.

You're right between demos and ex hire cars but still there are plenty of cars on carzone with zero mileage

pred racer

Did the 2 different plates spread out sales through the year or was it a white elephant?

Infoanon

pred racer wrote: »

Did the 2 different plates spread out sales through the year or was it a white elephant?

An increase in July and August and then fell off the cliff

Akrasia

The thing with the 131 and 132 reg is that before, if you bought a new car in January it was a new car for 12 months

Now if you buy a new car in January, it's 'old' by June
If you're thinking about buying a new car in march, you're likely to hold off till June to buy it so it will be 'new' for longer. Instead of evening the sales out over the year, there are now two more spikes and cliffs instead of a spike and a curve

Its intangible but real. People buy new cars for the feeling it gives them to drive around in a new car. They're certainly not buying new cars because it makes financial sense to do so.

pred racer

Infoanon wrote: »

An increase in July and August and then fell off the cliff

And did the july/august sales numbers compare to the jan/feb ones?

Anan1

pred racer wrote: »

And did the july/august sales numbers compare to the jan/feb ones?

I can hardly imagine that they would have, a new year is still a new year. The system was only ever intended to lessen the imbalance.

ABajaninCork

Truckermal wrote: »

Some people just cannot afford a new car simple as, I could afford a new car but the depreciation sickens me especially when you see the bargains that are to be had in used barges etc etc.

Totally agree. I would NEVER buy a brand-new car, whether I had the money for it or not. Especially as the car depreciates 25-30% the minute you drive it off the forecourt. And certainly not Paddy spec cars. IMO they represent very poor value for money.

Only once have I driven a brand-new car (a 1.8 Vectra) off the forecourt, but that was a company car!

I always buy cars two to three years old max, as there's much better value to be had.

Anan1

ABajaninCork wrote: »

Especially as the car depreciates 25-30% the minute you drive it off the forecourt.

That's a gross exaggeration, in fairness.

R.O.R

pred racer wrote: »

And did the july/august sales numbers compare to the jan/feb ones?

July was higher than January I think. Thought I had a nice graph somewhere of how the 12 & 13 registrations by month compared, but can't find it on e-mail.

Still massive peaks in Jan & July, but a much more level "curve" than it was in previous years.

Every dealer I talk to was way up on last year, by the time we finished up for Christmas. We had over double the number on order in Dec 2013 compared to Dec 2012.

ABajaninCork

Anan1 wrote: »

That's a gross exaggeration, in fairness.

I don't think so. But we'll agree to disagree.

Anan1

ABajaninCork wrote: »

I don't think so. But we'll agree to disagree.

It's not a matter of opinion, i'm telling you as fact that it's a gross exaggeration and anyone working in the motor trade will tell you the same thing. But anyway, sure let's move on - your general point that new cars depreciate hard initially is sound.

pred racer

R.O.R wrote: »

July was higher than January I think. Thought I had a nice graph somewhere of how the 12 & 13 registrations by month compared, but can't find it on e-mail.

Still massive peaks in Jan & July, but a much more level "curve" than it was in previous years.

Every dealer I talk to was way up on last year, by the time we finished up for Christmas. We had over double the number on order in Dec 2013 compared to Dec 2012.

I'd be interested to see that if you do come across it.
So I suppose the big question is, do you thinkthe whole 2 plates thing was a success? I have to admit I was hugely sceptical when I heard about it.

Larbre34

For the most part brand new cars just dont make economic sense to private motorists. I wouldnt even consider one unless it was on 0% with a 3 year servicing package and 5 year + comp warranty, and a guaranteed trade in value to boot. The very idea that so called premium marques arent willing to offer more than 3 years warranties in this day and age is enough to reject their offerings.

Larbre34

pred racer wrote: »

I'd be interested to see that if you do come across it.
So I suppose the big question is, do you thinkthe whole 2 plates thing was a success? I have to admit I was hugely sceptical when I heard about it.

I dont think it did anything much for motor businesses overall other than spread a similar level of activity. In terms of a trading/accounting year for dealers two lower peaks should be no different to one big one.

The whole 131 was a bad idea from a vehicle recognition point of view, an already overstretched reg plate now means you could in theory have 11 characters in a car reg, where studies have shown that 7 or so is the optimum for noting car plates in the case of crime or road negligence.
Try reading 141-CE-120564 in low light at speed in what is a very tight font

AltAccount

Larbre34 wrote: »

Try reading 141-CE-120564 in low light at speed in what is a very tight font

What are the odds of that?

For Forks Sake

Larbre34 wrote: »

Try reading 141-CE-120564 in low light at speed in what is a very tight font

Given that Clare only registered 1360 cars for the whole of 2013, that's unlikely to ever happen

Captain Chaos

The only bit hard to remember is the last 6 digits, the year and county as easy regardless as they have a meaning making them easy. Besides the D regs will have the longest plates, other counties won't come close.

R.O.R

AltAccount wrote: »

What are the odds of that?

Zilch.

Be very surprised if any other counties apart from D & C get past 10,000 registrations in a half year period.


Galway and Kildare just about scraped over 11,000 registrations in 2007 so highly unlikely they'll get past 10k in a 6 month period.

alastair

For Forks Sake wrote: »

Given that Clare only registered 1360 cars for the whole of 2013, that's unlikely to ever happen

The 120 prefix applies to all imported cars - so 141-CE-1200001 to 142-CE-1201360 could well be a likely plate number.

alastair

R.O.R wrote: »

Zilch.

Be very surprised if any other counties apart from D & C get past 10,000 registrations in a half year period.


Galway and Kildare just about scraped over 11,000 registrations in 2007 so highly unlikely they'll get past 10k in a 6 month period.

See above - you need to tag on the 120 prefix for direct imported cars.

AltAccount

alastair wrote: »

See above - you need to tag on the 120 prefix for direct imported cars.

Did it not change from county to county, and 120 only applied to Dublin?

For Forks Sake

alastair wrote: »

The 120 prefix applies to all imported cars - so 141-CE-1200001 to 142-CE-1201360 could well be a likely plate number.

The 12xxxx is D regs only, I'd say clare imports probably start at 7xxx or 8xxx

alastair

AltAccount wrote: »

Did it not change from county to county, and 120 only applied to Dublin?

Ah - you're right - apologies for being Dublin-centric. Here's a bunch of import reg prefixes/starting points for various counties:


C Cork 40001
CE Clare 9001
CN Cavan 6001
CW Carlow 5001
D Dublin 120001
DL Donegal 11301
G Galway 16801
KE Kildare 16001
KK Kilkenny 8001
KY Kerry 10001
L Limerick City 6001
LK County Limerick 11001
LD Longford 4001
LH Louth 11001
LM Leitrim 3001
LS Laois 6001
MH Meath 15001
MN Monaghan 6001
MO Mayo 10001
OY Offaly 7001
RN Roscommon 6001
SO Sligo 7001
TN Tipperary North 6001
TS Tipperary South 8001
W Waterford City 7001
WD County Waterford 6001
WH Westmeath 8001
WX Wexford 11001
WW Wicklow 11001

AltAccount

I've taken the New Car Reg figures for the last few years and graphed them against each other.

I think we need till the 2014 figures are in before we can judge if splitting the year was successful. To my eye it didn't make the massive smoothing effect that SIMI would have hoped for.




Figures are behind the graph in the Excel workbook

L-M

It would be nice to put a trend on that graph for 12 vs 13.

You can see there's a much bigger dip in late 131 than in previous years, a huge rise and then the drop comes again.

Judging by that graph it did a good job in leveling out the sales and having something to do in the summer.

I have to say It worked very well IMO.

Seweryn

Limerick man wrote: »

I have to say It worked very well IMO.

Yeah, better than before.

However, it would have been better still, if we remove that paranoid reg. year at the front all together. Same as every other country in the world have. Do we really need to show that number on the registration plate?