Car sales in Bermuda are set to be boosted by the launch of a new sports model by dealers HWP Group.

The Volkswagen Eos Cabrio went on sale in HWP's showroom last week, one has been sold and another six are on pre-order, with a further consignment of four being shipped from Portugal in October.

Car sales have fluctuated wildly over the past seven months according to the latest figures from Government's department of statistics, with a huge increase of 27.1 percent in January, followed by a 24.1 percent drop the next month and subsequent rises and falls until June, which saw another big decline of 27.7 percent, before recovering to gain 11.9 percent the proceeding month of July.

HWP sales manager Clement Arthur reckons the Island's latest motoring addition is going to improve the country's car sales as a whole.

"People have been asking for these cars from last year because they heard about them," he said.

"They knew it was out there because car buffs normally do - they started asking when are we going to brand them and it has gone from there really.

"There were a few things that needed to be sorted out like the length and width of the car to meet Bermuda's requirements for the road."

The new car offers the security of a hard top.

Mr. Arthur believes the Volkswagen brand is a winner with the Bermudian people.

"The demand is there and we have found in Bermuda the Bermudians do love a Volkswagen," he said.

"There are two other hard top convertibles out there, but they don't have the recognition of the Volkswagen.

"I think it will boost car sales for HWP because there is a demand for this type of car," he said.