There were 90,983 new cars sold here in the first six months of the year - a drop of almost 10,000 compared to the same period last year. Analysts say that given the 30 % growth year-on-year for the past three years, a 10 per cent drop is not a drastic one and about 120,000 news cars should still be sold this year.
Motorcheck.ie's Michael Rochford says the motor industry seems to be in good shape, despite the uncertainty of Brexit. The other side of the uncertainty - the fall in the value of Sterling - has also seen a dramatic increase in the numbers of cars being imported. Imports are up by 43% and in total 13,381 cars were brought into the country in the period from January to June.
Hybrid and electric sales are also up.
Sales of hybrid and electric vehicles are also showing strong indications of real growth. Hybrids are up by 78% and electric vehicles are up by 33%.
While diesel remains the most popular engine choice, there is confirmation in the statistics that people are beginning a shift back to petrol - sales of petrol cars are up and more than a quarter of buyers opted for them.
And there is evidence of an economic recovery - a boom even - in some parts of the country, at least. In June BMW was the top-selling manufacturer with the 5 Series topping the list of most popular cars. The X1, the 4 Series and the 1 Series joined the 5 Series to help BMW to first place and they too were in the top ten sellers.
Over the six months period, however, Volkswagen was the most popular brand, followed by Toyota, Hyundai, Ford and Nissan.
Key statistics for the six months to the end of June 2017:
The top 5 Manufacturers, in order, with the most new car registrations are – Volkswagen, Toyota, Hyundai, Ford and Nissan
The top 5 Models are – Hyundai Tucson, Nissan Qashqai, Volkswagen Golf, Skoda Octavia and Ford Focus
Diesel remains the most registered fuel type with 66% of vehicles diesel cars (60,034 units), with Petrol cars accounting for 27% of all registration and year on year up 30% (27,460 units)
Electric and Hybrid vehicles are making a mark and now account for 3.7% of the total new market (up from only 1% last year) with Hybrids up 78% (3,019 units) and Electric vehicles up 33% (369 units) against the same period last year.
The top selling commercial vehicles were the Ford Transit, VW Caddy, Renault Trafic, Ford Transit-Connect and Peugeot Partner
