Official figures show a big drop in new car sales in August, as the effects of the scrappage scheme faded.
The Central Statistics Office says 3,653 new cars were licensed last month, a drop of 31% compared with the same month last year. For the first eight months of the year, however, new car sales were 79,680, 8.4% ahead of the same period last year.
The scrappage scheme came to an end at the end of June, having boosted the car industry for the previous 18 months.
In August, just over 23% of the new cars licensed were petrol, while almost 75% were diesel. Volkswagen was the leading make, with 593 new cars sold, followed by Ford (339), Renault (306) and Toyota (275).
