The number of used imported cars in the State leapt last month by nearly 70 per cent compared to June 2003, the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show.
New vehicles licensed in the State grew by 12 per cent over the same period, with 13,619 new private cars registered compared to 12,180 in June the previous year.
The Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI), said the figure of imported cars as a percentage of total second-hand car transactions was quite small.
Some 742 newly registered were second-hand imports - an increase of 67.9 per cent - which represents about 5 per cent of all vehicles registered.
SIMI chief executive Mr Cyril McHugh said: "Many, though not all, would be in the niche market where people are looking for difficult-to-get makes or models that are not available in Ireland."
The CSO figures also show a small decrease in the number of new goods vehicles licensed - down 1.2 per cent. The total number of all new vehicles licensed during June was 17,965 compared with 16,537 during the same month in 2003 - an increase of 8.6 per cent.
Ford recorded the highest number of new private cars licensed in June with 1,892. Volkswagen on 1,791 and Toyota with 1,757 were slightly behind followed by Renault (827), Opel (754) and Nissan (750).