Government considers registration plate change
by Joanne Ahern • August 24, 2012 • Motoring News
The motor industry reckons having two plates per year may help boost mid-year sales. Here’s what we at atTheLights reckon the new plates might look like.
The Government is considering a proposal from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry to view the motor registration year in two halves in a bid to stimulate sales.
The vast majority of car sales in Ireland are in the first three months of the year, when the annual registration plate is newest.
However, in a bid to stimulate the industry, the SIMI wants two registration periods per year, with two plates issued.
For instance, under the plan, next year a Dublin registered car would carry a 131 D plate if it was registered in or before June, and a 132 D plate if it was registered in the second half of the year.
The motor industry believes this would more accurately reflect the age of the car and could encourage a mid-summer lift in sales.
It may also allay the fears of a 13 number plate next year for superstitious car buyers.
Director General of Simi, Alan Nolan said he believes an improved registration plate system ‘will be vital for our sector next year and into the future’.
Fiat Group Ireland issued a ‘cautious’ welcome to the idea but said a bigger help in addressing the seasonality of car buying in Ireland would be to remove the year totally from plates.
A spokesman said: ‘Unless the year identifier is eradicated altogether from Irish number plates, Fiat Group Automobiles Ireland believes that 25 years of Irish car buying habits are unlikely to change and most buyers will continue to purchase their cars in the first three months of the year.’
It also raised concerns that Irish number plates were becoming too cluttered, with up to 11 characters on some. Registration plates in the UK and Germany have a maximum of seven characters.
Some 37,000 people are employed in the motor industry in Ireland. While new car sales were up nine per cent in last month, compared to July 2011, overall sales are down 12 per cent in the first seven months of the year.
