The Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) has released car sales figures for the month of February. Month-on-month statistics indicate a growth of 25%. Last February the Irish car industry registered 12,711 vehicles whereas February 2015 shows a higher figure of 15,854 registered vehicles. Year-to-date these figures are up a comfortable 29% on last year.

The light commercial vehicle segment is also showing an increase in figures with a 45% increase on last year’s February figures.

Alan Nolan, SIMI Director General, said; “It’s good to be able to report continued progress in the Industry’s recovery back toward more normal levels of business.” According to CSO figures, employment in the motor industry increased by 4,500 last year with close to 42,000 people employed in the industry. “With consumer confidence remaining strong and new car sales continuing to grow we are confident that employment in the sector will increase further this year”, continued Mr Nolan.

To date the heavy goods vehicles (HGV) market is showing a decrease of 29%. SIMI says that part of the reason for this could be on account of the New Vehicle Approval system. According to a survey of members the HGV sector would be doing better than last year if the “State’s registration process was actually operating efficiently”.

February proved to be a great month to Volkswagen with the Golf being the highest selling vehicle and the Passat Saloon following it. The Nissan Qashqai is still in the top five selling models as is the Skoda Octavia and the Ford Focus. To date the top selling models of 2015 are; Volkswagen Golf, Ford Focus, Toyota Corolla, Skoda Octavia and the Nissan Qashqai.