14,725 new private cars were licensed in January, according to the Central Statistics Office.
This is down 11% on the 16,528 recorded in the same month last year and 20,100 in 2000, which was a record year.
The total number of all new vehicles licensed in January fell by 11.6% to 18,222.
The numbers for second-hand cars and goods vehicles were also down on January last year.
