'Target dumped used imports' in Budget, motor industry plea
Brian Cooke, Director General of SIMI, with Paddy Magee, Country Operations Manager, Renault Group Ireland. The Irish motor industry is seeking a no change in motor taxes scenario in the upcoming budget, along with measures to deal with the massive expansion of used imports, writes Brian Byrne . Otherwise there’s a risk to 10,000 jobs in the industry, a potential direct revenue loss to the Exchequer of €231m, and a crash of new car sales to as low as 70,000 next year. These were stark figures today in a market presentation by the Society of the Irish Motor Industry, which warns that ‘the mistakes of 2008 must be avoided’ and says the industry is now at its most vulnerable since the crash of 2008. Economist Jim Power detailed the national economic background to the Budget submission recently submitted by SIMI on behalf of its members. While there has been generally a strong recovery in the economy, he suggests this has been exaggerated. He pointed to sterling’s weakness since B...