This article is from page 37 of the 2009-12-08 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 37 JPG
DATA released today by the Motor- check.ie Car Index shows that new car sales in Clare have dropped by 66 per cent since the beginning of 2009 while imports from abroad to the county have only dropped 35 per oom
Diesel vehicles have now firmly replaced petrol as the fuel of choice for 2009 with 59 per cent of Clare buyers opting for the alternative fuel. Nissan appears to be the favourite for Clare drivers with the Nissan Micra topping the table for petrol cars with 52 registrations whereas the Nissan Quashqai has the lead in the Diesel segment with 59. Spot a 2009 Audi TT with a Clare registration and you’ll probably find a leprechaun driving it as only one has been reg- istered in the county so far this year!
By comparison imports have not declined to the same extent with a drop of 35 per cent for Clare (No.11 in the country for used imports). The most popular import was the Toyota Corolla with 122 registrations while the Volkswagen Passat came in sec- ond at 102.
With a decline in new car registra- tions of 66 per cent, Clare was just above the national average of 63%. Counties with the greatest declines were Meath at 67% and Wicklow at 66%.