New registrations for motor cars and trucks coming on to the road have shot up 7 per cent this year, with 124 more units during the first ten months, than during the same period in 2023.

But auto garage service has also been a real moneymaker, with the apparent increase in service jobs put down to more collisions, heavy rains and potholes.

Statistics covering January to October 2023 showed market-size additions of 1,684 new vehicles coming on the road, rising to 1,808 for the same period this year.

The ten-month figures distributed to car dealers by the Transport Control Department include all four-wheeled vehicles.

There are not just new cars and commercial vehicles sold by the dealerships, but also “grey vehicles” comprising used vans and taxis that are refurbished and imported directly from Japan. There are also independent importers.

One of the traditional importers leading the way is Auto Solutions. Managing director Glen Smith said: “I know for this past year, we have done extremely well. We are up by double digits in sales. That’s primarily new vehicles.”

Auto Solutions has also started a new business line, which is expected to catch fire. The dealer is selling completely refurbished, pre-owned vehicles.

While some importers have seen sales challenges, they have also reported that their repair shops remain busy.

Amy Greenslade, of Rayclan, said they only have one model for sale, the Proton X50.

She said: “Because of that, I don’t see us as a good yardstick on which to measure the market.”

But her service department has been busy. She said: “Unfortunately for the public, driving skills have become worse. We’re doing a lot more repair. The body shop is busy.

“And the potholes have had an effect. Mechanically, we have seen instances where cars have hit potholes hard, and drivers were faced with a serious repair bill.

“But there are accidents, some bad accidents, where the car has been towed in to our write-off lot. It’s crazy.”

Sébastien Cornet, of Bermuda Motors, said: “We have to be extremely happy with the way things went for sales this year, even though we had problems with shipping, especially with our Kia models.

“The demand is high even for other brands, such as the Mini, that we are still waiting to arrive.

“We have had more of a challenge with the Kia brand because of shipping issues, but we expect that Kias, too, will also do well next year, much like the Minis."

While overall numbers are up, it has been a mixed bag for some importers who will seek improvements in 2025.

Richard Davidge, of Renault and EuroCar, said: “We’ve had four or five cars and therefore more choice for the customer.

“You always want to do better. It has been better this year than some years, but so far this year, not as good as last year. It has been mediocre.

“The after-sales side has been busy all year. It has been a lot of bodywork. We have noticed a number of issues with cars … alignments knocked out by potholes and other causes.

“Next year we are hoping to have a few more models and make a change.”

Meanwhile, just like its sales floor, the Auto Solutions service department is extremely busy.

Mr Smith said: “We have not seen an increase in the fixing of suspensions and stuff of that nature. However, we have seen quite a growth in our tyre business. They are uneven and pitched, and also hitting potholes which wears the tyres down.

“Also with the heavy rains, people drive their cars through the deep flooding of some roads, the water gets into the engines, causing mechanical issues.

“We’ve seen a fair amount of that this year, and sometimes it is so bad, the vehicle has to be replaced altogether.

“We’ve seen an increase in damage caused by traffic collisions. Almost every weekend, we have a car in the yard that is either written off or close to being written off. But we have a busy repair yard anyway. We service anywhere from 36 to 40 cars a day.”