CAR SALES FOR the first quarter of this year are the strongest they’ve been in six years.

The Society of the Irish Motor Industry, SIMI, released figures today showing that car sales are up 26 per cent compared to this time last year.

At the end of March this year 49,960 cars were sold compared to 39,466 in the first quarter of 2013.

SIMI Director General, Alan Nolan said,

Vehicle sales for the first quarter of 2014 remain significantly ahead of last year. Already we have registered over two thirds of total car sales for last year.

In March alone, new car sales were up 23 per cent compared to last year. 14,356 cars were sold this March compared to 11,645 last March.

The top selling car brands were Volkswagen, Toyota and Ford.

The top three selling models were the Volkswagen Golf, Nissan Qashqai and Ford Focus.

Commercial

The commercial market is also showing positive signs.

Van sales are up 43 per cent this quarter and up 45 per cent in March alone.

While truck sales are up 40 per cent so far this year and 31 per cent in March.

The top selling van was the Ford Transit

Nolan said,

We are clearly starting from a low base but the most notable point has been the return of retail consumers to the marketplace and that can be seen both in showrooms and in the number of 141 cars visible outside homes, schools and shops.

Read: New car sales went up 23 per cent in February>