New car sales drop in Kildare so far this year

New car sales have dropped in Kildare so far this year.

Some 4,746 new vehicles were sold in the county in the first seven months of 2017. That’s a drop of 12% on the same time period last year, when 5,393 were sold.

It has been a slower year for new car sales across the country, with the national drop standing at 9%.

That’s according to figures released today from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI).

The report’s authors say a combination of factors, including rising housing, rental and health insurance costs, plus uncertainty around Brexit, are affecting disposable income spending. This makes consumers cautious about buying expensive items such as cars.

SIMI indicated there has been a staggering increase in the cost of car insurance in the last three years.

Average insurance costs are 43.9% higher than they were in May 2014.

The cost of diesel and petrol are also up year-on-year.