New figures show that the number of new cars licensed for the first time dropped again in May, while the number of imports jumped by 14.1% as buyers continued to take advantage of a weaker sterling.
The Central Statistics Office said a total of 9,362 new private cars were licensed last month, down 2.3% compared with the same time last year.
The number of used or imported private cars licensed increased by 14.1% to 8,822, the CSO added.
Today's figures show that in the first five months of 2018, a total of 79,321 new private cars were licensed, down 5.3% compared with the same time last year.
Meanwhile, the number of used private cars licensed rose by 11.5% compared with the same period in 2017 to 42,199.
Volkswagen was the most popular make of new private car licensed in May followed by Skoda, Toyota, Hyundai and Renault.
The CSO said that these five makes represented 45% of all new private cars licensed in May.
In the first five months of 2018, 55.5% of all new private cars licensed were diesel, compared with 65.7% the same time last year.
The CSO also noted a 16.2% increase in the number of new goods vehicles licensed in May - bringing the total to 2,539.
