Renault manages growth in downed market
6 April 2001: Renault - which recently introduced its Laguna II to positive reception - was the only Irish distrubutor in the top ten marques to show a growth in sales during the month of March, which showed an overall 29.5% drop on the same month last year. Sales for the first three months of the year are overall down by 23% against the same period in 2000, to 79,518 compared to 104,184.Bucking the trend, Renault had an increase of 2.9% with sales of 1,796 units and a 7.9% market share placing the brand 6th in the unit sales ladder. The top three were Ford (2,875), Nissan (2,673) and Toyota (2,526).
In the Elite Brands segment, Audi showed a fairly spectacular 27.4% increase compared to last March, probably on the back of its new A4 which is getting good reviews. Top three in the segment were Mercedes-Benz (538 units), BMW (530) and Alfa Romeo (302).
The knock-on effects of the foot and mouth situation are being blamed for a loss in confidence which has in turn affected new car sales. One distributor has suggested that the motor industry might ‘consider its role’ in assisting the tourist authorities in its work of helping the hard-hit tourist industry.
“A lot of economic hardship has already been inflicted so now every person and every organisation needs to do all in their power to get the economy back on track,” says Nicola Greco, chief executive of Fiat Auto Ireland. “Meanwhile, the whole-hearted co-operation between the authorities, the farmers and the rest of the population to prevent further spread of foot and mouth is fantastic and with luck there will be no further cases of this dreaded disease anywhere on the island of Ireland.” BB