New car sales fall 26.5% on back of latest lockdown
New car sales were down 26.5 per cent over the first 10 days of this year, hit by Covid restrictions and delays due to the administration of new Brexit rules.
In what is traditionally the busiest sales month of the year, 9,765 new cars were registered in the Republic by January 10th, down 3,523 on the same period last year.
The latest Covid-19 lockdown means dealer showrooms are closed, with sales restricted to click-and-deliver operations, although servicing departments remain open. Most of the new cars registered would have been on order by customers from the end of last year.
On top of the Covid restrictions, increased administration due to Brexit has caused some delays in deliveries. In particular, dealers are reporting that parts supplies have been impacted, though many had built up stock levels prior to January 1st.
According to Robert Guy, director aftersales for Volkswagen Group Ireland, their planning