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The number of new private cars licensed for the first time rose 68.5 per cent in March, the Central Statistics Office said today.

Some 12,379 new cars were registered for the first time last month, compared to 7,345 in March 2009.

Consumers continued to opt for diesel models over petrol equivalents, with 62.1 per cent of the cars using the fuel compared to 34.2 per cent of petrol powered vehicles.

The number of goods vehicles also rose, climbing 45.6 per cent to 1,331, leading to a total of 14.665 new vehicles registered during March, a 57.6 per cent rise on last year.

The Government's scrappage scheme has helped boost the ailing industry, which has seen a large number of dealers go out of business during the ecnomic downturn.

In total, 20,711 vehicles were registered during the month, including imported cars, trucks and motorbikes. This is 19.5 per cent more than in the same month of 2009.