Car 6

Over 160 professional women from a variety of different sectors within the Motor Industry in Ireland attended the Society of the Irish Motor Industry’s 6th annual Women@SIMI event held on Friday, 13 September in the Clayton Hotel, Ballsbridge, Dublin, writes Trish Whelan . This was the largest attendance to date and featured an impressive panel of guest speakers -Breege O’Donoghue, former Primark Board Member & Group Director; Alison Comyn, award-winning TV and broadcast journalist and expert in effective communications. Master of Ceremonies was RTE’s Mary Kennedy. In his address to the attendees, Gabriel Keane, President of SIMI said: “While there are many challenges currently facing our Industry, we must not lose sight of the contribution made by the 47,300 people that work in the Irish Motor Industry that continue to keep Ireland moving. I am proud to be a part of our dynamic Industry and to be here today to support women in business. In her talk to the l...

Brian Cooke Ireland has become the dumping ground for older cars the UK doesn’t want’ warns Brian Cooke, Director General, SIMI. The 192-registration period is generally a time of upturn for new vehicle sales however July has replicated the first six months of the year with new car sales down over 8pc on last year (24,685 this year v 26,958 for July 2018).   Commenting on the figures, Brian Cooke said ‘there continues to be a surge in used car imports, the majority of which are coming from the UK’.  “While Brexit is clearly a factor in this increase, Ireland’s taxation system overburdens new cars, causing motorists either to hang on to their older smokier cars or look to the UK for an older import. Over the last three years, we have imported 150,000 cars that don’t meet the latest EU emission standards which in effect means Ireland has become the dumping ground for older cars the UK doesn’t want.” Mr Cooke said this is not only bad news for Irish reta...

Economist Jim Power The Quarterly Motor Industry Review for Q2 of 2019, released by The Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI), warns that 12,000 Motor Industry jobs here are under threat if the Government fails to adjust VRT bands in the October Budget, writes Trish Whelan .  The report, composed by economist Jim Power, makes for stark reading.   Despite the economy performing strongly, the environment for new car sales continues to remain very challenging with new car registrations down 7.4pc (80,712 units) on the back of a rise in used car imports which are up 2.4pc this year (53,119). Since the announcement of Brexit, both new cars and commercial registrations continue to drop with the exception of electric cars and used car imports.   External threats such as Brexit uncertainty, greater consumer caution and the ongoing growth of used imports continue to undermine new car sales. Another factor dampening demand was the increase in the VRT on new cars in...