Official figures show that 25,991 new cars were licensed in March, up 4.7% on the same month last year.
The Central Statistics Office said that for the first three months of the year, new car sales were up 8% to 81,808 compared with the same period last year.
Second-hand car figures grew by 10.7% in March, while the total number of new vehicles licensed also rose by the same percentage..
