Ireland March 2013: Dacia takes off, places Duster at #15!

Dacia Duster

* See the Top 50 best-selling models and Top 30 brands by clicking on the title! *

New car sales in Ireland are down 10% year-on-year in March to 10,672 registrations, bringing the year-to-date total to 39,488 units, down 13% on 2012 which is roughly in the European average right now. Sad but true. The VW Golf takes full advantage of its 7th generation now widely available to climb into pole position both this month thanks to 685 sales and 5.9% and year-to-date at 2,004 units and 5.1%. #1 last month, the Nissan Qashqai is down to #2 in both ranking with 5.2% share in March and 4.9% year-to-date. Excellent operation of the Opel Astra up 8 spots on February to #3 with 408 sales and 3.5%, equal with the Toyota Yaris.

I could go down the models ranking progressively but I won’t because the main event this month in Ireland is the thunderous arrival in 15th place of the Dacia Duster with 209 sales and 1.8% share. Launched at long last in January both in the UK and Ireland, the Dacia brand has definitely struck a chord with Irish consumers: as a brand Dacia is already #14 in March, in-between Peugeot and Citroen! Other great performers this month include the Nissan Micra up 22 ranks to #7, the Opel Corsa up 28 to #10, Hyundai i30 up 12 to #14, Skoda Rapid solid at #28, Toyota RAV4 up to #33 and the Seat Toledo up to #41.

Previous month: Ireland February 2013: Nissan Qashqai on top for 2nd time ever

One year ago: Ireland March 2012: Nissan Qashqai leads at 8.8% market share!

Full March 2013 Top 50 models and Top 30 brands Ranking Tables below.