Ford is best-selling car brand as lift in sales continues

Cork, 1 March 2010 – The rise in new car sales accelerated last month, as registrations grew by 38% over February 2009. The jump in sales of vans was even more pronounced, at 72%. According to the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) a total of 12,325 cars were registered last month, up from 8,950 in the same period last year. Ford is the best-selling car brand so far this year, with 13.5% of the market.

Commenting on the figures, Eddie Murphy, Chairman and Managing Director of Ford Ireland, said: “A second successive month of sales increases in both cars and vans points to some recovery in the market, fuelled by the car scrappage scheme and a replenishment need among customers who have deferred purchases from last year.

“I expect the positive trend to continue into March as a healthy book of enquiries translates into sales.”

Car Sales 2010
	Year to Date	February
Ford	3,914 (13.5%)	1,277 (10.4%)
Toyota	3,842 (13.3%)	1,770 (14.4%)
VW	3,157 (10.9%)	1,347 (10.9%)
Renault	2,681 (9.3%)	1,144 (9.3%)
GM (Opel)	2,108 (7.3%)	890 (7.2%)
Nissan	1,751 (6.1%)	782 (6.3%)