The number of new cars licensed in September fell by 6.7% compared to the same time last year, new figures from the Central Statistics Office show.
A total of 4,104 new private cars were licensed for the first time last month, compared to 4,397 in September 2018.
The CSO also said that a total of 9,868 used (imported) private cars were licensed, a jump of 17.8% on the same month last year - as Irish consumers continued to buy from the UK on the back of a weaker sterling.
Today's CSO figures show that in the first nine months of the year, a total of 107,686 new private cars were licensed, down 7.1% on the same time last year.
They also reveal that the number of used (imported) private cars licensed increased by 6.2% in the first nine months of the year.
The CSO noted that electric and hybrid vehicles accounted for over 10.5% of all private cars licensed in the first nine months of 2019, compared with 6.7% in the same time last year.
Meanwhile, diesel vehicles accounted for 46.8% of all new private cars licensed so far this year, down from 54.2% the same time in 2018.
The CSO said that Volkswagen was the most popular make of new private car licensed in the nine months to September, followed by Toyota, Hyundai, Ford and Skoda.
Together, these five makes represent 46.9% of all new private cars licensed to the end of Q3 2019.
The CSO also said that the five most popular makes licensed in September were Volkswagen, Ford, Toyota, Skoda and Opel.
