According to the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office today, there were 3,486 new private cars licensed last December, compared with 4,003 in December 1999. This represents a decrease of 12.9%.
For the full 2000, there were 225,274 new private cars licensed - an increase of 32.2% on 1999.
However, first licensing of second hand private cars decreased by 1,117 on the same month last year and decreased by 12,875 in 2000 when compared with 1999.
Toyota was the most popular make of new private cars licensed in December, followed by Fiat, Nissan, Volkswagen, Opel and Ford.
