New private car licences up 12.8% in April - CSO

There was an increase of 12.8 per cent in the number of new private cars licensed last month compared with April 2015, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

The latest figures show 14,847 new private cars were licensed for the first time. A total of 5,626 used (imported) private cars were licensed, representing a rise of 40.8 per cent on the same month last year.

In the first four months of the year, 83,222 new private cars were licensed, a rise of 26.7 per cent compared with the same period last year. The number of used (imported) private cars licensed rose by 15.8 per cent compared with the same period in 2015.

The licensing figures also show that Volkswagen was the most popular make of new private cars licensed in April with 1,961 new licences.

It was followed by Ford (1,383), Nissan (1,279), Hyundai (1,173) and Toyota (1,150). Together, these five companies represent 46.8 per cent of all new private cars licensed.

In the first four months of 2016, seven out of every ten new private cars licensed were diesel fuelled, while 96.3 per cent of new private cars licensed in the same period were in the A/B CO2 emissions bands.

The total number of new vehicles licensed during April was 19,144 compared with 16,465 during the same month in 2015, an increase of 16.3 per cent.

There was a 33.9 per cent increase in the number of new goods vehicles licensed in April 2016, bringing the total to 3,116.