Car sales rose sharply in January, according to figures released today by the Central Statistics Office.
The figures show there were 20,002 new private cars licensed in January 2005 compared with 16,870 in January 2004, an increase of 18.6 per cent.
The number of new goods vehicles licensed was 2,934 in January 2005, compared with 2,528 in the corresponding month last year, an increase of 16.1 per cent.
The highest number of new private cars licensed in January, classified by make, are Toyota (3,126) followed by Ford (2,482), Volkswagen (1,681), Nissan (1,514), Renault (1,306) and Peugeot (1,253).