Toyota remains the best-selling marque in Ireland, according to figures for the year to the end of July.
The latest figures from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) show car registrations up to the end of July at 134,017, up 7.2 per cent on the same period last year.
However, the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) for the year to June suggest a sizeable discrepancy exists between the number of cars registered and the number of new cars taxed.
Figures for June from the CSO show that 106,826 private cars were taxed during the first six months of the year, while SIMI figures show 121,640 were registered during the same period, a difference of 14,814. Even taking account of several categories of vehicles exempt from tax, the CSO figure still suggests that the claimed increase in sales this year may be significantly reduced when so-called 'pre-registered' cars are taken into account.
According to the July figures from the SIMI, Toyota now holds a lead of 2,267 units over main rival Ford. Sales for the Japanese marque are up 3,005 so far this year, the largest growth in in terms of units, followed by Renault.
Other car firms recording significant growth are Mazda, Hyundai and Kia, the Korean firm which has undergone a change of management at Irish level with a resulting rise of 65.4 per cent to 1,333 units so far this year.
At the premium end, BMW holds a three per cent share, but when combined with sales of its subsidiary MINI brand claims a 3.4 per cent share with 4,579 registrations.
However, excluding its strong selling supermini, the Bavarian brand still trails behind Mercedes cars in terms of registrations, with 3,992 and 4,140 cars registered respectively.
Audi has also performed well so far this year, with sales up 20 per cent at 2,921 and the brand now holding a 2.2 per cent market share.