The number of new private cars licensed in February was down 18.4 per cent on the same month last year, figures show.
Latest vehicle licensing statistics from the Central Statistics Office show there were 10,993 cars licensed in February compared with 13,470 in February 2011.
The number of new goods vehicles licensed in the month was up 7.9 per cent – from 1,349 to 1,455.
In total for February, the number of all vehicles licensed was 17,608 compared with 20,117 in the same month of 2011 – a decrease of 12.5 per cent. The total number of new vehicles licensed was down 14.6 per cent, from 15,696 to 13,397.
Some 74.2 per cent of the new private cars licensed last month were diesel, and 22.7 per cent were petrol.
Classified by make, the highest number of new private cars licensed in February were of the Toyota marque (1,568), followed by Volkswagen (1,463), Ford (1,094) and Hyundai (805).
Of the 10,993 new private cars registered in February, some 51 per cent fell into the A emissions rating band. Almost 40 per cent fell into the B rating band.