The first days of July saw a strong recovery in new vehicle registrations, according to the latest figures from SIMI.
Changes to Vehicle Registration Tax took effect from July 1 with cars which produce carbon dioxide emissions attracting higher rates of VRT.
Up until then the amount of VRT a car attracted was based on its engine size - the smaller the engine, the less VRT charged. But from the beginning of July, VRT rates now range from 14% to 36% depending on the amount of CO2 per kilometre emitted.
SIMI says that over 8,000 new cars were registered over the first nine days of the month compared to just over 4,000 the same time in 2007.
This figure has already surpassed the number of cars registered for the full month of June this year.
SIMI says that car buyers seem to have reacted very favourably to the recent VRT and road tax changes.
