Ford holds top position in Q1 as market drops

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Written by Staff Reporter

Wednesday, 09 April 2008

Ford was the leading vehicle brand for March 2008 sales, according to figures released by the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI).

The Ford Focus was the best selling car in the first quarter to the end of March this year.

However, the SIMI figures confirm the expected slowdown in sales in the Irish car market. The March figures are almost 24% down on the figures for the same month last year.

The weak result in March means that first quarter figures for 2008 are down nearly 9% on the same quarter in 2007.

A total of 26,084 cars and vans were registered in March, down 24% on the same period last year. Capturing 13.34% of the overall market, Ford's performance was led by Focus and Mondeo sales. The March figures mean that the Mondeo and Focus win the title of Ireland's best-selling models for the first quarter of 2008.

Car sales of 21,641 in the month were down 23% on the year previously. With 3,000 units, Toyota topped the sales chart, followed by Ford (2,603), Nissan (2,581) and VW (2,223).

Commercial vehicle sales were down 28% at 4,443 units. Ford was the leading brand with a 19.7% share (876 units), ahead of VW (575) and Toyota (418).

Combined car and commercial registrations, March 2008

	Car	(%)	Commercials	(%)	Combined	(%)
Ford	2,603	12.03%	876	19.72%	3,479	13.34%
Toyota	3,000	13.86%	418	9.41%	3,418	13.10%
Nissan	2,581	11.93%	344	7.74%	2,925	11.21%
VW	2,223	10.27%	575	12.94%	2,798	10.73%
GM	2,138	9.88%	275	6.19%	2,413	9.25%
Overall	21,641	100.0%	4,443	100.0%	26,084	100.0%

Car model registrations, first quarter 2008

Ford Focus: 4,291
Ford Mondeo:4,208
VW Golf: 4,129
Toyota Corolla:3,691
VW Passat: 3,160

"While it is heartening that Focus and Mondeo maintained their strong sales figures, we expected a slow down for the month of March, and that is what we got," commented Eddie Murphy, Chairman and Managing Director of Ford Ireland.

"The general confusion among car buyers in regard to the July motor tax changes is really having an impact on the market, and we can see that impact continuing into quarter two of the year.

"The slow down in the commercial vehicles market is more serious than expected, and as these sales are an indication of the strength of the economy, it does not augur well for Ireland's economic outlook for the rest of 2008," he concluded.

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