New car registrations in Ireland dropped significantly during September 2008 amidst unfavorable business conditions, including volatile stock market, liquidity crunch and weak economic conditions.
The Central Statistics Office released a report wherein it revealed that the sales of new cars dropped in Ireland, as more than 34% fewer private cars were registered during September 2008 against the same month a year earlier, as reported by rtebusiness.
According to the data released for the first nine months of 2008, the total number of new cars licensed reached 141,930, 17% down from the same period last year. Moreover, the licenses given to new goods vehicles slumped as only 1,451 Units were licensed during September 2008, a decline of nearly 45%.
The fall in registration of new vehicles in Ireland points to weak market conditions arising due to severe financial crisis that hit the auto manufacturers. Besides, the liquidity crunch in credit market has impacted the auto industry’s ability to finance daily operations and sustain investments essential for the market to switch over to low emission vehicles.
Furthermore, amidst weak economic conditions, the Irish car industry is facing low demand. Consumers are refraining from making hefty purchases owing to difficulties in getting their purchases financed. Financial companies have tightened their lending norms and become extremely cautious while lending.
In addition, the registration of new cars in Ireland is significantly hurt by surging fuel prices and rising input prices that correspondingly raised the prices of vehicles in the country, making vehicles or cars unaffordable.
All these problems are making vehicle owning extremely difficult for customers. A large number of people are not interested in taking risk of buying car as companies worldwide are resorting to downsizing to minimize their operational costs, which, in turn, is increasing unemployment.
According to a Research Analyst at RNCOS, “The Irish car industry is facing the impact of global financial crisis. Car manufacturers and dealers in Ireland will have to face the current problem for some more time till economic conditions solve and consumers feel relaxed.”
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