The north’s motor retail industry picked up significant traction last month, new sales data suggests.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said 4,871 new cars registered were in Northern Ireland during June.
That was 18.6% up on the 4,108 new cars registered during the same month last year.
Total sales in the first six months of 2024 grew 10% year-on-year to 27,344, according to the SMMT, up from 24,845 in the first half of 2023.
The sharp rise in June sales followed a slight dip in May, which was the first month in 2024 where car retailers sold fewer new motors than they did in 2023.
The 18.6% increase in the north was also significantly higher than the UK-wide market, where sales were up by just 1.18% in June.
The SMMT said the number of new cars sold to private buyers in June was actually lower than the same month last year, with the growth in the UK market down to purchases for fleets owned or leased by businesses or other organisations.
But the trade body said sales in the UK had passed one million cars in the first half of the year for the first time since 2019.
Motor retailers in Northern Ireland are still performing below pre-pandemic levels when it comes to new cars.
A total of 30,837 new cars were registered in the north at the midway point in 2019, which at the time, was the weakest first-half start to a year since 2013.
Vauxhall’s new Corsa was the standout performer in Northern Ireland, with 265 new models registered last month.
It outsold popular SUVs including the Kia Sportage (198), Hyundai Tucson (127), Hyundai Kona (113) and Peugeot 2008 (96).
