The number of new cars licensed in October fell by 3.2% compared with the same month last year, according to the Central Statistics Office.
The figure was 5,303, down from 5,477 in October last year. Toyota led the way, followed by Volkswagen and Nissan.
For the first ten months of the year, however, new car figures are running almost 5% ahead of last year at 176,710.
The CSO also said that of the 9,122 new vehicles of all types licensed in October, 38 were fuelled by electric and petrol, while petrol and ethanol accounted for 57.
