The Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) has called on the Government to introduce a "car passport" after the Garda confirmed it is investigating the possibility that cars stolen in Japan may have ended up on the Irish market.
A investigation for the BBC1 consumer affairs programme Watchdog claimed this week that up to 100,000 cars had been stolen in Japan and, after having had their identities concealed in Dubai, were transported to Britain.
It is believed up to 2,000 cars, primarily four-wheel-drive vehicles such as Toyota Landcruisers and Mitsubishi Pajeros, may have ended up in the Republic.
The Biggest Car Fraud in the World programme said that in most cases buyers were unaware that the vehicles had been stolen, but were still liable to lose them if the fact was later discovered.
The chassis or engine numbers of the stolen cars had reportedly been changed in Dubai to render the vehicles untraceable.
A Garda spokesman yesterday confirmed that the matter was being investigated by the stolen car squad at Harcourt Terrace in Dublin.
Mr Cyril McHugh, of SIMI, which mainly represents firms selling new vehicles, said the organisation had been pushing for the introduction of a single registration document for all vehicles. This would be a "car passport", which would allow a car's history to be effectively traced.
He said the claims made on the programme were very worrying. "The scale of this is quite frightening," he added.
He said 9,000 such Japanese imports were sold in Ireland in 2000, 43 per cent fewer than in 1999. Demand for them had diminished because more people were now buying new cars.
In 1996, 3,500 Japanese imports were sold in the State, rising to a high of 20,259 in 1998, according to SIMI.
A spokeswoman for the Department of the Environment said cars registered in Ireland currently needed two documents, a vehicle registration certificate and a vehicle licensing certificate.
The Government has plans to replace these with a single registration document, as was required under the terms of an EU directive, she said. However, it was not possible to say when this would happen.
The Irish Motor Dealers' Association, which represents some used-car dealers, could not be contacted.