Automatic transmission vehicles are now more popular than manual cars according to new data released today.
Data published by the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) shows sales of vehicles with automatic transmission have overtaken manual cars for the first time ever.
The market share of automatic cars for January was recorded at 57.1 per cent, compared to 42.8 per cent for manual transmission vehicles.
New car registrations for Wicklow in the last month are up nine per cent compared to the same period last year, with 631 registered.
Wicklow registrations account for a total of 2.5 per cent of the entire market share.
However, SIMI said registrations have still not returned to pre-pandemic levels which it blames on supply chain issues and lockdowns.
On a positive note, the director general said supply issues are expected to improve during the year, which will lead to an improved market.
Brian Cooke added that the “trade-ins against January new car sales will have increased supply of used car stock, which means greater variety and volume for interested used car buyers in the weeks ahead”.
The top selling car of January was the Hyundai Tucson, with the top five most popular brands, in descending order, being Toyota, Hyundai, Volkswagen, Skoda and KIA.
