Car sales figures for August show new registrations fell 36 per cent to 3,242, compared to the same month last year, partly as a result of the end of the Scrappage scheme in June.
However sales for the first eight months of the year were up by 7 per cent at 84,412, according to figures from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI).
Toyota remains the top-selling brand with a 13.1 per cent market share on sales of 11,082, but it is being hotly pursued by Volkswagen with a market share of 12.4 per cent on sales of 10,441, knocking Ford into third place with an 11.9 per cent share and sales of 10,062.
At the premium end of the market the most popular marque is Audi, with sales so far this year of 3,175, but just 25 cars ahead of BMW. Mercedes is third with new registrations of 1,835.
These figures include new cars imported into the country and first registered here. These totalled 847 up to the end of August, with BMWs being the most popular new import, recording 146 registrations, followed by Toyota with 141 and Hyundai with 103.
Ireland's best-selling model this year remains the Ford Focus with 4,029, ahead of the VW Golf with 3,795, and the Toyota Avensis with 3,373.
In terms of fuel, 71 per cent of the news cars sold this year were diesel, while just 43 electric cars have been sold so far in 2011.
SIMI director general Alan Nolan said: "Some fall-off was to be expected with the ending of Scrappage as nearly a third of all new cars sold last August were bought under the scheme and we can expect to see this fall-off reflected in the monthly sales figures for the rest of the year. This is a clear indication of the weakness of the real underlying market which is very slow and is also the case for servicing and repairs, as well as sales."
