The number of new cars being sold in Clare has fallen for the first time this year.
The latest monthly figures from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry show that 302 new vehicles were sold here in March, which is drop of more than 11% from the same time last year.
There was a marked increase in the number of Petrol and Diesel vehicles sold in the county though, rising by 6% and 18% respectively, while electric vehicle sales fell by 60%.
SIMI Director General Brian Cooke says the Government must invest in infrastructure to make EV’s a viable option.
“For the industry this means investment and delivery of more EV technology, while for government this means increased support in terms of extension of the current incentives including purchase grants and benefit and kind relief for companies,” he said.
“I’m working with Private Enterprise to upgrade the national charging infrastructure to boost consumer confidence in making the switch to an electric vehicle.”
Of the cars sold in Clare in March, 181 had an automatic transmission and 121 were manual.
Mr. Cooke says commercial vehicle sales had more success than passenger vehicles last month.
“While the new car market started strongly in the first two months of the year, March proved to be much more difficult. New car sales showed a 16% decrease on the same month last year although sales for the 1st quarter still remained 8% ahead of that same quarter last month,” he added.
“Sales of light and heavy commercial vehicles both showed an increase during the month of March.”
