Ireland June 2013: Podium 100% VW in market down 74%

VW Polo

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

June sales data is starting to come through and Ireland is the first cab off the rank. This year the Irish license plate system switched to bi-annual (instead of annual), meaning if you register your car from July 1 onwards it will devalue much less than if you do so beforehand. As a result, June new car sales came to an almost complete halt in the country: down 74% year-on-year and 72% on May to just 1,673 units. The year-to-date total now stands at 53,230 sales, down 21% on 2012. You would think that with such low volumes the models ranking would go out of control but it is surprisingly stable vs. last month.

BMW 3 Series

Volkswagen once again makes its imprint and this time places 3 models on the Irish podium: the Polo at #1 with 4.5% share, followed by the Golf and Passat both at 4% of the market. VW is also the #1 brand at 15.8% share this month. Other great performers this month include the BMW 3 Series up 25 ranks to #4, the Opel Insignia up 11 to #7, the BMW 1 Series up from outside the Top 50 in May directly to #11, the Toyota RAV4 up 6 spots to #13 and the Seat Mii up 10 to #22. Dacia, launched last January in the country, continues to progress and now passes Mercedes to rank #13 brand overall with 2.3% share. The Duster is up 5 ranks to #19 while the Sandero is up 11 to #37.

Previous month: Ireland May 2013: Nissan Qashqai #1, two Dacias in Top 50

One year ago: Ireland June 2012: Toyota Yaris up to #2

Full June 2013 Top 50 models and Top 30 All-brands Ranking Tables below.