Nearly 15,000 new cars were licensed here for the first time in April, according to the latest figures from the CSO.
At 14,847 cars, the monthly figure represented a 12.8% increase on the total for April 2015.
In the first four months of this year, 83,222 new private cars were licensed, a rise of 26.7% compared with the same period last year.
There was a significant increase in the number of imported cars licensed in April.
5,626 used private cars were licensed after import in the month, a 40.8% increase on the same month last year.
That was likely accounted for by considerable weakness in the value of sterling in recent months which makes it favourable for importing cars.
In early 2015, sterling was showing signs of strength against a weakening euro, under pressure from the ECB's recently introduced quantitative easing programme.
Volkswagen was the most popular make of new private cars licensed in April, followed by Ford, according to these figures.
The CSO compiles its figures based on licensing of cars.
Licensing differs from registration in that a vehicle is licensed when a valid motor tax disc is issued for the first time. Registration occurs when a vehicle gets its licence plate for the first time.
