carzone.ie motoring report 2015 in review · 2016. 3. 3. · fuel road tax insurance 43% spend up...

CARZONE.IE MOTORING REPORTExamining Trends in the Irish Motoring Industry

2015 IN REVIEW

Welcome to the latest Carzone.ie Motoring Report, where we dig deep to examine trends in the Irish motoring industry. In this report we mine through data for the whole of 2015.

With 111 million searches for used cars in 2015, Carzone.ie is in a unique

position to be able to offer insight into what the Irish driver is thinking. To

bolster that raw search data, we surveyed 1,700 Irish motorists on a wide

variety of motoring topics, asking them about their driving habits and

preferences, which types of cars they favour and why and, for a bit of fun,

whether they've ever named their own cars.

As ever, the responses were illuminating, adding real substance to the

Carzone.ie site search results. Brought together, it was also possible to get a

feel for differences across the country. You'd be surprised at how preferences

vary from county to county. Or not as the case may be.

The final piece in the jigsaw was used vehicle transaction data provided by

Cartell.ie, revealing that 2015 was a bumper year for used car sales.

WELCOME

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

2 | Motoring Report

WE SURVEYED 1,700 IRISH MOTORISTS

111 MILLION SEARCHES IN 2015 ON CARZONE.IE





Motoring Report | 3

BUYING A CAR

124,945

of people have purchased a car in the last 12 months

NEW VEHICLES REGISTERED IN 2015

USED CAR TRANSACTIONS IN 2015

In spite of bad press for diesel in 2015, Irish buyers continue to favour diesel-fuelled cars. Some 56 per cent of our

survey respondents bought diesel

cars and an overwhelming majority of

searches on Carzone.ie were for diesel

models. Canny low-mileage motorists

are, however, beginning to reconsider

petrol power.

If you travel less than 15,000 kilometres

a year, or the vast majority of your

driving is done at low speeds, a diesel

car could end up costing you far more

on maintenance and repair than it will

save on fuel and tax in comparison to a

petrol alternative.1,125,794

4 | Motoring Report

Almost 20% purchased cars with over

46% of purchases for cars with less than

MILEAGE MATTERS

KM

KM

CAR TYPES

FUEL TYPE

SALOON 32%HATCH 30%MPV 9%ESTATE 9%CITY CAR 9%

DIESEL 56% PETROL 42%Motoring Report | 5

WHY PEOPLE BOUGHT A CAR

DECLARED THEY WANTED A LARGER CAR

30% OF MARRIED PEOPLE DECLARED THEY WANTED A LARGER CAR FOR GROWING FAMILY REASONS

15% bought a car because a larger car was needed to cater for a growing family

25% simply wanted a newer car

18% needed a car 13% wanted a more reliable car

15% purchased to save on costs

FAMILY15%NEWER25%

NEED18% RELIABLE13%

SAVE15%

6 | Motoring Report

41%36%

13%10%

IndependentDealers

OnlineSeller

FranchiseDealers

WHERE PEOPLE BOUGHT FROM RESEARCHING CARS

45% RESEARCHED UP TO 3 MODELS

24% RESEARCHED MORE THAN 5 MODELS Other

Motoring Report | 7

VOLKSWAGEN GOLF

FORD FOCUS

VOLKSWAGEN PASSAT

BMW 3 SERIES

BMW 5 SERIES

OPEL ASTRA

1

2

3

4

5

6

IN 2015 IN 2014

MOST POPULAR CAR MODELMOST POPULAR CAR MAKE

1

4

2

5

3

6

NATIONWIDE NATIONWIDE

VOLKSWAGEN GOLF

BMW 5 SERIES

BMW 3 SERIES

FORD FOCUS

AUDI A4

VOLKSWAGEN PASSAT

In line with the dominance of Volkswagen and, in particular the Golf on the new car market over the past few years, it remains the most searched for car on Carzone.ie. However, thanks to

the publicity generated by the arrival of

new models, the Passat, Ford Focus and

Opel Astra all moved up the search ranks.

There's a lot of aspiration amongst

buyers searching for a car though, as

evidenced by the continued popularity

of the BMW 3 Series and 5 Series, while

Audi and Mercedes-Benz all make it into

the top six searched for car makes on

Carzone.ie.

8 | Motoring Report

78%

17%

56%

42%

BLACK 23%WHITE 16%BLUE 6%SILVER 5%RED 5%GREY 4%

MOST POPULAR CAR COLOUR FUEL TYPENATIONWIDE NATIONWIDE

0.71% HYBRID

SEARCHES

0.24% ELECTRIC CAR

SEARCHES

SEARCHES BASED ON DIESEL

SEARCHES BASED ON PETROL

DIESEL PURCHASES BASED ON SURVEY

PETROL PURCHASES BASED ON SURVEY

MOST SEARCHED FOR CAR IN IRELAND

2012 BLACK VOLKSWAGEN GOLF DIESEL GOLF 2012

Motoring Report | 9

CORK 82%

82% OF CAR SEARCHES IN CORK WERE FOR DIESEL CARS, 29% HIGHER THAN THE NATIONAL AVERAGE.

DUBLIN WEST 24%

ONLY 24% OF PEOPLE LIVING IN DUBLIN WEST FULLY UNDERSTAND ALL THE CAR FINANCING OPTIONS THEY HAVE, THE LOWEST IN THE COUNTRY.

WESTMEATH 74%

FINANCIAL CONCERNS

SLIGO 50%

DONEGAL 45%

45% OF PEOPLE IN DONEGAL SPEND BETWEEN ¤120 AND ¤200 PREPPING A CAR FOR ITS NCT, THE HIGHEST AVERAGE IN THE COUNTRY.

FUEL, ROAD TAX AND INSURANCE

ARE THE MAIN FINANCIAL CONCERNS FOR CAR OWNERS IN IRELAND. OTHER CONCERNS INCLUDE:

DEPRECIATION & SERVICING COSTS

NATIONWIDE MOTORING TRENDS

ONLY 50% OF PEOPLE IN SLIGO ARE FULLY AWARE OF CURRENT TAX BANDS, THE LOWEST IN THE COUNTRY.

74% OF PEOPLE IN WESTMEATH ARE NOT SATISFIED WITH THEIR CURRENT INSURANCE PREMIUM, THE HIGHEST IN THE COUNTRY.

10 | Motoring Report

COUNTY MAKE MODEL YEAR(S) COLOUR FUEL

DUBLIN VOLKSWAGEN GOLF 2008-2015 BLACK DIESEL

CORK FORD FOCUS 2012-2012 BLACK DIESEL

LIMERICK FORD FOCUS 2012-2012 BLACK DIESEL

GALWAY VOLKSWAGEN GOLF 2008-2015 BLACK DIESEL

KILDARE FORD VW GOLF 2011-2011 BLACK DIESEL

CARLOW VOLKSWAGEN GOLF 2012-2012 BLACK DIESEL

WEXFORD FORD FOCUS 2008-2015 BLACK DIESEL

WATERFORD VOLKSWAGEN GOLF 2012-2012 BLACK DIESEL

LOUTH VOLKSWAGEN GOLF 2008-2015 BLACK DIESEL

MEATH TOYOTA FORD FOCUS 2008-2008 BLACK DIESEL

WESTMEATH VOLKSWAGEN GOLF 2008-2008 BLACK DIESEL

LONGFORD VOLKSWAGEN AUDI A4 2010-2010 BLACK DESEL

LAOIS FORD ALL MODELS 2010-2010 SILVER DIESEL

COUNTY MAKE MODEL YEAR(S) COLOUR FUEL

OFFALY TOYOTA FORD FOCUS 2001-2011 BLACK PETROL

KILKENNY VOLKSWAGEN ALL MODELS 2011-2011 BLACK DIESEL

TIPPERARY FORD FOCUS 2011-2011 BLACK DIESEL

CLARE FORD FOCUS 2012-2012 BLACK DIESEL

MAYO FORD FOCUS 2012-2012 BLACK DIESEL

SLIGO VOLKSWAGEN GOLF 2010-2010 RED DIESEL

LEITRIM VOLKSWAGEN GOLF 2011-2015 BLACK DIESEL

ROSCOMMON VOLKSWAGEN FORD FOCUS 2008-2008 BLACK DIESEL

KERRY FORD FOCUS 2012-2012 BLACK DIESEL

CAVAN VOLKSWAGEN GOLF 2010-2010 BLUE DIESEL

DONEGAL VOLKSWAGEN GOLF 2008-2015 WHITE DIESEL

MONAGHAN OPEL INSIGNIA 2008-2008 WHITE DIESEL

WICKLOW VOLKSWAGEN GOLF 2008-2008 SILVER DIESEL

MOST POPULAR SEARCHES BY COUNTY

Motoring Report | 11

PEOPLE PLAN TO SELL THEIR CAR IN THE NEXT YEAR

WOULD SELL THROUGH TRADE IN

OF PEOPLE DON'T FEEL CONFIDENT OF GETTING

A GOOD PRICE

OF PEOPLE HAD SOLD A CAR WITHIN THE LAST

TWO YEARS

OF PEOPLE HAD SOLD ONLINE

There's no doubt that Carzone.ie's users understand it's far easier to trade in their car than to sell it privately, but they also suspect they won't get a decent price. Consider how quickly

you need to sell, and if you do sell it

privately, take precautions such as not

handing over the car until payment has

cleared in full.

Never leave the car keys alone with a

potential buyer, always ask for proof

of identification and of insurance if the

buyer wants to test the car. It's highly

recommended that you accompany

them on this too. Remember that it's a

business transaction.

SELLING FACTS & FIGURES

SELLING A CAR


REASONS FOR SELLING A CAR OBSTACLES TO SELLING

LARGER CAR (24%)

EXPENSE (17%)

RELIABILITY (16%) 18%

NOT TRUSTING BUYERS

38%NOT GETTING THE

ASKING PRICE

29%TIME IT TAKES TO SECURE A SALE

NEEDING A

HIGH

LACK OF


RUNNING COSTSMONEY MATTERS

TOP 3 EXPENSESFUEL ROAD TAX INSURANCE

43% SPEND UP TO ¤250 PER MONTH

16% SPEND MORE THAN

¤300 PER MONTH

¤250 ¤300Some 58% of motorists are spending over ¤250 per month on fuel, road tax and insurance. Changing your car is the only way

to reduce the tax, but all drivers can focus

on saving fuel by reducing hard acceleration,

checking tyre pressures and removing

unnecessary weight from the car, such as

golf clubs, plus taking off roof boxes and

racks when not in use.

On the insurance side, it's a sad fact

that premiums are on the rise, but we'd

recommend investing time in shopping

around for many different quotes. Be aware

that, if you're about to buy a car that is

ten years old or more, it could become a

problem to insure, as they're deemed of

higher risk by the insurance industry.


42% OF MEN CLAIM TO FULLY UNDERSTAND ALL CAR FINANCING OPTIONS VS 31% OF WOMEN

43% 54% 43% expect their motoring spend to increase over the

next year

54% felt insurance costs would be the biggest obstacle to affording a

car in the next 12 months

Almost half (48%) of people are not fully aware of car finance options available to them when buying

a car but only 13% felt this negatively impacted their ability to buy a car

48% 13%

CAR FINANCE


INSURANCE NCT

41% OF PEOPLEWON’T BE INSURING WITH

THEIR CURRENT INSURANCE PROVIDER IN 2016

33% OF PEOPLE WHO ARE SATISFIED WITH

THEIR CURRENT INSURANCE PROVIDER WILL STILL BE

SEEKING A NEW INSURANCE PROVIDER FOR 2016

33% OF PEOPLE SPEND UP TO ¤150 A MONTH PREPPING

THEIR CAR FOR THE NCT

DON’T FEEL THE NCT SYSTEM IS FAIR

ARE CONFIDENT THEIR CAR WILL PASS

THE NCT TEST

¤150

37%63%

40% OF PEOPLE ARE NOT SATISFIED

WITH THEIR CURRENT INSURANCE PREMIUM


TAX BANDS

CLAIM TO BE AWAREOF AND UNDERSTAND ALL ROAD TAX BANDS

CLAIM TO BE AWAREOF AND UNDERSTAND ALL ROAD TAX BANDS

72% OF PEOPLE ARE AWARE OF CURRENT TAX BANDS

75% OF MEN 61% OF WOMEN

83% SAID TAX BANDS INFLUENCE WHAT CAR THEY BUY


1 IN 6 IRISH PEOPLE HAVE A NICKNAME FOR THEIR CAR

GOOD OLD "BETSY" IS THE MOST POPULAR

OTHERS FOCUS ON COLOUR WITH:THE PINK PANTHER THE SILVER BULLET AND BLACK BEAUTY

BETSY


TOP DRIVING SONGS OF 2015 WERE

SPECTREFURIOUS 7 MAD MAX

UPTOWN FUNK (30%)

HELLO (15%)

PHOTOGRAPH (12%)

HOLD BACK THE RIVER (12%)

TUNES FM

MOST POPULAR DRIVING RELATED MOVIES OF 2015

MARK RONSON

ED SHEERAN

JAMES BAY

ADELE


CARZONE.IE MOTORING REPORT2015 IN REVIEW

carzone.ie motoring report 2015 in review · 2016. 3. 3. · fuel road tax insurance 43% spend up...

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