Car sales in Cork down on last year

NEW car sales were up 4.7% for the month of May but the overall car market remains down on last year.

In Cork, there were 9,879 new cars sold in the first five months of the year, down from 10,625 in 2018, a drop of 7%.

This reflects the pattern in the national car market where sales are down 7.6%.

Brian Cooke, director general of the Society of the Irish Motor Industry, said: “Registrations for the month of May, both cars and light commercial vehicles, showed an improvement on May of last year, although the increase in numerical terms was relatively small.

“However, sales overall year to date have been disappointing with both business and consumer Brexit-related uncertainty contributing to dampened demand for new vehicles.

“As we move into June the Industry is now focused on preparations for the start of the July 192 registration period.

“This will see a variety of strong offers to consumers across all brands, and in this environment, consumers will have a wide choice of cars to choose from at a really competitive price.”