New car sales increased during May

New car sales increased slightly during May but still down on last year

There was an increase in the number of new cars sold in Ireland during May compared to April which would indicate that the car sales market is gradually recovering after the worst economic shutdown in history.

The latest figures from the CSO (Central Statistics Office) show that a total of 1,490 new cars were sold in May which was an 11.36 per cent increase from the 1,338 cars sold in April.

Over this covid pandemic period, there was a 90.3 per cent decrease in all new car sales with a slight improvement in May of 83.7 per cent decrease over the same months a year ago.

There can be no doubt that this period has been unprecedented and the whole global economic system is suffering from the fallout of this pandemic but despite this, there has been a slight improvement in May and continuing into June.

According to the latest figures, a total of 46,995 new cars were sold in Ireland in the first five months of this year, which is down 36.3 percent when compared with the same period in 2019.

As we all painfully know from the end to March to mid-May, nearly all the businesses in the country came to a standstill and many are still reeling from it. Thankfully, April was the only complete month under the covid lockdown and many traders are hoping that they can claw back as many sales as they can in the coming months.

People are now able to travel all over their own county and if they are on the border between counties they can travel up to 20 kilometers away from their homes into the next county instead of the 5-km limit imposed during Phase 1. It is hoped that with Phase 2 of the reopening, car sales will bounce back to pre-covid levels.

Author

Justin Kavanagh
Justin Kavanagh is a recognised leader in automotive intelligence and vehicle data supply to the entire motor industry. He has almost 20 years experience in building systems from the ground up. As the Managing Director of Vehicle Management System, he understands the need and importance of trustworthy and reliable vehicle history and advice to both the trade and the public.
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