Car Sales in First Week of July Exceed Sales in the Whole of July Last Year

In the first eight days of the new ‘132’ plate, 4,675 new cars have been sold, exceeding last July’s full month’s sales of 4,424. Sales have also exceeded that of July 2011.

Brian Cooke, Deputy Director General of SIMI “The first day of the new 132 plate was exceptional for sales and momentum hasn’t slowed down. Dealers are extremely busy with customers reacting to July special offers from manufacturers and dealers.

Normally at this time of year, garages are slowing down but it looks like July 2013 appears to have changed customers’ buying patterns. The new plate was introduced to fix the problem of seasonality in the industry; when most cars were sold in the first half of the year. While it is still early days, we are already seeing positive signs that the new system is working.

Many dealers are reporting showroom footfall at January levels, traditionally the busiest month of the year for sales.”