Imports of second hand cars up 90% - CSO

The number of second-hand private cars being imported into the State has grown by more than 90 per cent over the first nine months of the year, compared with the same period last in 2004.

According to figures released today by the Central Statistics Office this morning 13,263 second-hand private cars were imported into the country between January and September, a rise of 91.1 per cent.

In September alone there were 1,467 such vehicles imported, a rise of 71.9 per cent on the same period last year.

Licencing of new private cars also showed growth over the same period. In the nine-month period to September there were 154,170 new private cars licenced, a rise of 11.7 per cent.

In September, there were 7,475 new private cars licenced, up 1.2 per cent on the same period in 2004.

In that month Volkswagen was the biggest selling make with more than 1,000 new private cars sold, followed by Toyota with 849. Ford sold 776 cars and Opel 526.

There was an increase of 240 or 9.7 per cent in the number of new goods vehicles licenced in September compared with a year earlier. The number of new goods vehicles sold is up 25.8 per cent on the year to date at 6,710.