· 6 months in new car sales have generated €60m more for the Exchequer than for the same period last year
· €430m in VAT and VRT has been collected from new car sales so far this year
· Over 10,000 more cars have been sold than the whole of last year
· Over 21,000 more cars sold than for the 6 months to June 2009
Commenting on the half yearly figures, SIMI Press Officer Suzanne Sheridan said, “Undoubtedly, this significant improvement in registrations has been greatly assisted by the government scrappage scheme. This has resulted in increased showroom activity, and with manufacturers and dealers adding additional discounts across all new cars for sale, the increase in sales is reflected not just in scrappage sales. We predicted that with the stimulation of scrappage, 70,000 cars would be sold this year, but we are nearing that figure just 6 months in. This increase in business activity is already having a positive knock-on effect to the wider economy in increased government revenue and job protection in the motor industry.”
Sheridan continued, “Coupled with yesterday’s news that we are coming out of the recession, there is certainly a sense that we are on a road to recovery, albeit a long one.”