For decades now, the Irish motor trade has been banging one consistent drum. Reduce the cost of Vehicle Registration Tax . Originally, that was called for on the basis of fair-play. Our cousins in the UK anddidn’t, for the most part, have to pay punitive taxes when buying a new car, so why did we? The EU even once upon a time weighed in on the subject, saying that VRT was likely not sustainable.
“I do think they’re still valid, particularly in relation to renewing the fleet being the key to reducing emissions” Cooke told The Irish Times. “We have really ambitious projections about electric vehicles coming in, but to achieve that the cornerstone is a healthy new car market. After all, the people who are most likely to buy an electric car are those who have equity in their current car, say a two-to-three year old car, and can trade in.
“So that new car itself starts to churn throughout the entire vehicle market, and the danger is that if we ramp up the taxes on combustion cars too high, too soon then we break that cycle. We’ve seen that since the last time new car sales collapsed, in 2009 and 2010, it took almost seven years for the market to recover, and that’s the worst fear of the Irish motor industry.”
Buy a nice import from Britian and save a fortune. Car dealers in Ireland charge far too much.