Until recently, the red tape and prohibitive cost of importing cars to Ireland from the UK meant that this was only an option for dealers and collectors, however, political change resulting in a weakened Sterling has changed all that.  Statistics show that record numbers of Irish car buyers are taking advantage of the strong Euro in order to buy and import vehicles from the UK with significant cost savings.

Driving down costs  

The Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SOC) revealed that 100,755 vehicles were imported into Ireland in 2018, following a trend which began in 2016 as the UK voted to leave the European Union.  

Ireland saw a record number of used vehicles imported during 2018, with an overwhelming majority of those (95.8%) making their way across the Irish sea from the UK.  These figures show an increase of over 50% from 2017 and, are backed up by reports of 3.6% decrease in car sales within Ireland during the same 12 month period. Indications are that the numbers of cars imported to Ireland from the UK are set to soar during 2019 as news of the savings to be had become more widespread.  Although many different kinds of vehicle are being imported, analysis shows that buyers are taking advantage of the cost savings in order to upgrade to higher specification cars.

The numbers

• 92,508 used cars were imported into Ireland in 2018
• 49.2% of these vehicles were between three and five years old
• 4.8% of these vehicles were over 10 years old
• 141,931 fewer vehicles were bought and registered in 2017 than the previous year
• 8,131 vehicles were imported into Ireland in January 2019
• The January 2019 figure is an increase of 1.3% in January 2018
• Sales of new cars bought in Ireland has decreased in 2019 by 4.6%

The figures from the CSO show that the most popular vehicles imported to Ireland were as follows:

• Volkswagen – 13,496 vehicles
• Toyota – 11484 vehicles
• Hyundai – 10,950 vehicles
• Nissan – 9,277 vehicles

As the United Kingdom continues to struggle to set the terms of its departure from the EU, it’s unlikely that the numbers of vehicles imported from the UK to Ireland will see a slow-down – in fact, most experts predict that 2019’s figures will, in all likelihood, exceed those of 2018.  

When buying a car in the UK and importing it to Ireland there are a number of factors which need to be taken into consideration – always make sure that you know all the facts before embarking on a purchase.