The level of new private cars licensed in April was down 18% on the same month last year, according to figures released today by the Central Statistics Office.
A total of 17,587 new cars were licensed last month, compared to 21,427 the corresponding period in 2007.
The drop-off can be at least partly attributed to consumer caution ahead of the new emissions car tax system which comes into force on July 1.
The total number of all cars registered in April fell by 11%, while the number of all new vehicles licensed dropped by 15.6%.
There were 23,712 new vehicles registered in all. Of that amount, 139 were fuelled by petrol and electric, while petrol and ethanol constituted 404.
Ford topped the new car list on 2,293, followed closely by Toyota on 2,266 and Volkswagen on 2,128.
