NEW passenger car sales for last year rose by 8 per cent to 86,924, according to figures released by the Society of Irish Motor Industry (SIMI).

Sales of light commercial vehicles rose by 7 per cent to 3,410 while sales of heavy commercial vehicles dropped marginally from 2,996 to 2,963. Car sales for December were up by 25 per cent to 529 while sales of light commercial vehicles rose by the same margin to 303.

Ford was the most popular marque of new car in the Republic last year (12,873), closely followed by Opel (12.134) and Toyota (11,677) according to the SIMI figures.