Number of new cars licensed down 20% in February

The number of new cars licensed in Ireland in February fell by 20.2 per cent compared to the same month a year earlier, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

A total of 16,905 new cars were licensed for the first time last month, versus 21,173 for February 2016.

In addition, 7,723 used cars were licensed in February, up 52.1 per cent compared with the same month last year.

During the first two months of 2017, 43,573 new private cars were licensed, down 9.7 per cent compared with the same period in 2016. The number of used private cars licensed increased by 62.7 per cent compared with the corresponding two months in 2016.

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Emission bands

Of the new cars licensed in January and February, 65 per cent were diesel, while 96.4 per cent were in the A/B CO2 emission bands.

Toyota was the most popular make of new car licensed last month, followed by Hyundai, Ford, Volkswagen and Skoda.

The latest figures show there was an 18.3 per cent decline in the number of new goods vehicles licensed in February compared with the same month a year earlier.

CSO data differs from that issued by the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI). The CSO measures the number of cars taxed for the first time, while the SIMI figures are based on new registrations issued by the Vehicle Registration Office.