The number of new cars licensed for the first time in February fell by 20.2% compared to the same month last year, new figures from the Central Statistics Office show.
The CSO said a total of 16,905 new private cars were licensed for the first time in February of this year, down over 20% on the total of 21,173 in February 2016.
The CSO also noted a decrease of 18.3% in the number of new goods vehicles licensed in February, bringing the monthly total to 3,115.
However, 7,723 used or imported private cars were licensed in February, a jump of 52.1% on the same month last year.
The CSO said that in the first two months of 2017 a total of 43,573 new private cars were licensed, down 9.7% compared with the same two months in 2016.
But the number of imported cars licensed soared by 62.7% in the first two months of the year compared to the same time last year.
Today's CSO figures reveal that Toyota was the most popular make of new private cars licensed in February, followed by Hyundai, Ford, Volkswagen and Skoda.
Together these five makes represent 48.8% of all new private cars licensed.
According to the CSO, 65% new private cars licensed during the first two months of the year were diesel powered.
