There was a 5 per cent drop in the number of new cars sold in the State last year but a strong rise in the sale of commercial vehicles.
According to figures from Central Statistics Office (CSO), the number of private cars licensed in the 12 months to December 2003 fell to 142,992, down from 150,485 for the same period the previous year.
This was partially offset by a rise in the number of second-hand private cars last year. The CSO reported today there were 13,472 second-hand private cars licenced in 2003, compared with 13,352 in 2002, a rise of 0.9 per cent.
Commercial vehicle sales grew by 7.5 per cent to 30,532. Overall vehicle registrations in 2003 were 217,616, a fall of 1.5 per cent.
Ford led the way with 17,231 vehicles sold in 2003, followed by Toyota (16,736), Volkswagen (14,396) and Nissan (13,347). Tractor sales rose by 3.6 per cent to 2,970.