Car imports surge while new vehicle licensing drops

In April, 16,710 new vehicles were taxed for the first time, a decrease of 12.7 per cent compared to the same month last year.

However, the number of imported used cars increased by 29.3 per cent on the same month last year to total 7,272.

The drop in new private vehicles taxed in Ireland follows on from the declines seen in the first three months of the year compared to the same period last year. Between January and April this year, 10.9 per cent fewer vehicles were taxed than in the same period in 2016, while the number of used imported cars taxed increased by 52 per cent during the same four months.

The most popular make of new private cars taxed in April was Volkswagen, with 1,209 cars, followed by Nissan with 1,192, Opel with 1,126, Ford with 1,086, and Renault with 971.

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Emissions bands

Diesel cars made up the majority of new private cars taxed – 66 per cent of new cars were diesel – while 96.3 per cent of new private cars were in either the A or B CO2 emissions bands.

The most popular brands for import were Ford, Volkswagen and Audi, in that order.

SsangYong was the least popular brand overall in the month of April – the brand saw six cars newly taxed.

According to the Central Statistics Office, registration and licensing figures can differ from month to month because there is often a time lapse between registration and first taxing. Dealers must register a car before it leaves their forecourt but they're under no obligation to tax vehicles, hence the delay. According to registration figures from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry, new car sales fell by 10 per cent in April on the previous year, slightly below the percentage of new cars taxed.