The number of new private cars licensed for the first time last year was 84,907, up up 56 per cent on 2009, according to figures released by the Central Statistics Office today.
Some 160,418 new vehicles were licensed last year, a rise of 7.4 per cent on the previous year.
In terms of private cars, Ford was the most popular brand, with 10,650 licensed, followed by Toyota with 10,434, VW with 9,987, and Renault with 9,632.
Diesel remains by far the most popular engine choice, representing 63.5 per cent of the newly licensed cars, while 23 electric vehicles also took to the Irish roads for the first time. Of all the new cars licensed 80 per cent had emissions of less than 141g/km, falling into the two lowest motor tax bands.
The CSO figures also show that the imports of used cars fell significantly last year, down 20.9 per cent to 30,103. Of these Volkswagens were the most popular used cars to import, followed by Toyota, Ford, Audi, and BMW.
Despite the recession, the number of commercial vehicles licensed rose by 4.6 per cent to 10,510. Commercial vehicle sales are often regarded as a bellwether for economic activity.
The sizeable growth in the number of new privately licensed cars was partly attributable to the introduction of the Government's scrappage scheme for cars 10 years or older.
The Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) estimates that 17,500 of the new car registrations last year occurred under the scheme.
The CSO figures are based on the number of vehicles taxed for the first time. These figures differ from the number of new cars registered for the first time last year, which stood at 88,373.
The discrepancy is partly attributable to delays in owners taxing their new cars, and also to new cars registered by distributors and dealers, but not yet sold.