New figures from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry shows that January was a record month for new car sales.
SIMI says that a total of 43,106 new car registrations were recorded last month. It says this beat the previous best month of January 2000 when 42,064 new cars were sold. It also represents a 12.5% increase on January 2005 when a total of 38,329 new cars were registered.
Cyril McHugh, SIMI's CEO, said that the sales reflected the general buoyancy of the economy. He added that there is no doubt but that some motorists are anticipating the release of SSIA funds later in the year.
He said that sales of commercial vehicles also reflected the buoyant economy with January sales of light commercial vehicles up 19.54% on 2005 and heavy commercial vehicles up 21%.
The most popular brand of new car registered last month was Toyota, followed by Ford and Volkswagen.
