IRELAND - Toyota was the best selling car in June with Hyundai Tucson the best selling car year to date.

The Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) today issued the official 161 car sales figures for the first half of the year. New car registrations were up + 23% (101,338) ahead on the same period last year (82,337) while the month of June saw an increase of 12% (1,626) compared to June 2015 (1,448).

In the business sector Light Commercial Vehicles (LCV), are currently up 9% (867) on June last year (799) and year to date are up 26% (18,417) overall. While Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) registrations, have witnessed a decline of -29% for the month of June (112) 2016 when compared to the same month last year (157), however registrations are up 42% year to date.

Commenting on the figurers SIMI Director General Alan Nolan said “At the start of the year we predicted that this year’s registration numbers should reach 150,000 for the first time since 2008 and these figurers keep us on track to deliver that. From today of course the focus turns to the 162 registration period. This year promises to be the first normal year of registrations since the recession and with the range of attractive offers available across all brands we are confident that 162 will also deliver in the coming months.”

Stats in short:

• New car sales year to date (2016) -101,338 (2015) 82,337 +23%
• New car sales total June (2016)1,626 - (2015) 1,448 +12%
• Car Sales by county year to date 
• Hire Cars year to date (2016) 14,024 2015 (12,370) + 13%
• 5 Top Selling Makes for the Year 2016:

1. Volkswagen
2. Toyota
3. Hyundai
4. Ford
5. Nissan

• 5 Top Selling Models for the Year 2016

1. Hyundai Tucson
2. Volkswagen Golf
3. Ford Focus
4. Skoda Octavia
5. Nissan Qashqai

• Top selling car for the month of June Toyota Yaris
• Top selling colour for the month of June is Black while year to date is Grey
• Light Commercial Vehicles sales year to date (2016) 18,417 (2015) 14,657 +26%
• Light Commercial Vehicles sales total June (2016) 867 -(2015) 799 +9%
• Heavy Goods Vehicle total sales year to date (2016) 1,790 (2015) 1,260 +42%
• Heavy Goods Vehicle sales total June (2016)112 (2015) 157 -29% 

Cars Sales by County Year to date (January- June 2016)
County	2016 Units	2015 Units	% Change	2016 % Share	2015 % Share
Carlow	1221	1006	21.37%	1.2%	1.22%
Cavan	1108	930	19.14%	1.09%	1.13%
Clare	2317	1867	24.1%	2.29%	2.27%
Cork	13195	10282	28.33%	13.02%	12.49%
Donegal	2500	1941	28.8%	2.47%	2.36%
Dublin	38852	32214	20.61%	38.34%	39.12%
Galway	4044	3427	18%	3.99%	4.16%
Kerry	2292	1809	26.7%	2.26%	2.2%
Kildare	4140	3497	18.39%	4.09%	4.25%
Kilkenny	2009	1600	25.56%	1.98%	1.94%
Laois	1320	1028	28.4%	1.3%	1.25%
Leitrim	442	386	14.51%	0.44%	0.47%
Limerick	3751	2988	25.54%	3.7%	3.63%
Longford	516	435	18.62%	0.51%	0.53%
Louth	2298	1871	22.82%	2.27%	2.27%
Mayo	1978	1676	18.02%	1.95%	2.04%
Meath	3246	2489	30.41%	3.2%	3.02%
Monaghan	889	694	28.1%	0.88%	0.84%
Offaly	1339	1030	30%	1.32%	1.25%
Roscommon	1023	742	37.87%	1.01%	0.9%
Sligo	951	741	28.34%	0.94%	0.9%
Tipperary	2993	2501	19.67%	2.95%	3.04%
Waterford	2606	2060	26.5%	2.57%	2.5%
Westmeath	1539	1330	15.71%	1.52%	1.62%
Wexford	2501	1937	29.12%	2.47%	2.35%
Wicklow	2268	1856	22.2%	2.24%	2.25%