Consumer confusion over upcoming VRT and road tax changes and the economic slowdown have contributed to a fall in new car sales of almost 18 per cent in April.
Sales of new cars are down 17.9 per cent, to 17,587, according to the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office.
Of these, 11,254 were petrol engined, 5,794 were diesel powered and 403 run on a combination of petrol and ethanol. Just 136 new cars sold last month had dual petrol and electric engines.
Car sales in the four months to April were 95,028, down 8,149 compared with the same period the previous year.
The figures also indicate a 5.2 per cent rise in second-hand car sales in April to 19,694.
A slowdown in the sales of commercial vehicles, which is often seen as an indicator of the economic performance of the retail trade and construction, also emerges from the data.
Sales of light commercial vehicles fell by almost 16 per cent to 4,047 in April compared with 4,812 in the corresponding month last year.
The overall number of new vehicles sold last month was 23,712, down 15.6 per cent on the same month last year.
In the month Ford overtook Toyota as the best-selling new car brand in Ireland, with sales of 2,293, followed by Toyota on 2,266.