Sales of new cars fell by 55% in October when compared with the same month last year, according to figures released by the Society of the Irish Motor Industry.
A mere 1,748 new cars were sold last month, down from the 3,849 in the corresponding month in 2007.
The outlook over the first ten months of the year wasn't as bad, but sales of 150,790 were still 18% lower than the 184,394 that were taken off the forecourt by the end of October 2007.
Sales of Light Commercial Vehicles have fallen by 32% to 29,335, while Heavy Vehicle registrations are down 31% to 3,427.
Commenting on the figures, SIMI Director General Alan Nolan called on Revenue to do more to combat 'the level and visibility of illegal roadside-selling and the equally large-scale and visible illegal imports driving on our roads'.
'Our members are not prepared to wait any longer, real action must be taken now against this level of black market activity; this situation is totally unacceptable and unfair to legitimate businesses that are entitled to have a level playing field,' he added.
