The number of new cars joining the congestion on Irish roads in February fell slightly, according to figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) this morning.
There were 20,084 new private cars licensed last month, compared with 20,182 in February of last year, a decrease of half of one per cent.
Offsetting this small decrease was a sharp increase in the first licensing of second-hand private cars -which jumped by just over 42 per cent on the same month last year.
The number of new goods vehicles licensed was 3,298 in February 2004 compared with 3,344 in the corresponding month last year, a fall of 1.4 per cent.
The vehicle-licensing figures also show that the total number of all vehicles licensed in February increased by 0.6 per cent when compared with the same month in 2003.
The total number of all new vehicles licensed during February was 24,695 compared with 25,029 during the same month in 2003, a decrease of 1.3 per cent.
The highest number of new private cars licensed in February, classified by make, are Toyota, followed by Ford, Volkswagen, Nissan, Renault and Opel.