Sales of new cars increase by 32%

Last year 230,854 new cars went on the State's roads, a 32.5 per cent increase on the previous year, when new registrations totalled 174,236. Low interest rates was one of the main reasons for the year's registration boom. But it was also accentuated by the introduction of car testing which led many people to replace their cars with more fuel-efficient and safer new models. The best selling marque last year was Toyota: it sold 25,871 cars, taking 11.2 per cent of the new-car market. In second place was Ford, with 25,323 cars, or 11 per cent.