Ireland January 2013: BMW 5-Series, Skoda Rapid & Opel Mokka off to a great start

BMW 5 Series

* NOW UPDATED with the Top 35 All-brands ranking! Notice Dacia landing directly at #23 ahead of Fiat *

* See the Top 50 best-selling models by clicking on the title! *

January is the most important month of the year for new car sales in Ireland as it is traditionally the strongest. And if the shape of this month’s sales is any indication for the rest of 2013, we are in for a struggle: the Irish new car market is down a horrid 19% year-on-year in January to 17,293 registrations. This is to be compared to just 316 in December, showing how weighted towards the end of the year the market is, due to the fact that registration plates indicates the year of issuance and stays with the car forever. The January models podium is identical to that of 2012: the Ford Focus is #1 with 4.8% share, followed by the VW Golf at 4.6% and the Nissan Qashqai at 3.8%.

Skoda Rapid

The Ford Fiesta is up 4 spots compared to its FY2012 ranking to #4 with 623 sales and 3.6%, while the BMW 5 Series is up 6 to #9 and the Opel Astra up 7 to #10. The Hyundai ix35 is up 4 to #12, the Kia Sportage up 7 to #13, BMW 3 Series up a huge 17 ranks to #15 and the Peugeot 208 has already sold almost 3 times as many units in January alone than in the whole of 2012 when it was launched, ranking #17 at 299 sales and 1.7%.

Opel Mokka

Further down, notice the Hyundai Santa Fe up to #28 vs. #66 in FY2012, the Hyundai i20 up to #33 vs. #51, the Skoda Rapid up to an excellent #34 at 139 units and 0.8%, Seat Leon up to #39 vs. #65, Opel Mokka up to #41 for its 2nd month in market with 121 sales and 0,7% and the Seat Toledo landing at a shiny 50th place with 101 units and 0.6%.

Previous post: Ireland Full Year 2012: Ford Focus retains crown

One year ago: Ireland January 2012: Ford Focus and Toyota Yaris start off well

Full January 2013 Top 50 models and Top 35 All-brands Ranking Tables below.