There was a 4.7 per cent increase in the number of private cars licensed by the Department of the Environment last year.
The latest CSO figures show there were 149,697 new cars licensed last year, though this was below the 2002 figure.
In 2004, the total number of all vehicles licensed was 234,964 compared with 217,616 in the year 2003, an increase of 8 per cent.
The number of second-hand cars licensed in 2004 jumped by nearly 60% to 21,404.