Consumers in the Republic are continuing to take advantage of the weakness in sterling by buying used cars from the UK.
Figures from the Central Statistics Office show the number of imported vehicles licensed in the State for the first eight months of the year rose by 10.4 per cent to 67,060 . In contrast the number of new cars licensed here fell by 4.5 per cent to 111,461.
The figures are roughly in line with those from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry.
Irish consumers have been ditching the purchase of new models here in favour of buying used premium brands in the UK.
The latest figures show that in August a total of 7,681 new private cars were licensed for the first time, a decrease of 5.2 per cent compared with August 2017.
At the same time a total of 8,586 used (imported) private cars were licensed, representing a rise of 4.5 per cent on the same month last year.