The motor industry has just posted more encouraging sales figures for 2016
Car dealers saw a 37% rise in the number of new cars sold in Ireland last month.
Official statistics released by the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) show that new car registrations for February stood at 21,625, compared to 15,778 in the same month last year.
In all, new car sales are up 35%, to 61,350, so far this year as compared to the same period last year, 45,586.
Commenting on the figures, SIMI Deputy Director General Brian Cooke, said: "With today the first day of spring, new car registrations are showing the early signs of a strong 2016 for the Motor Industry.
"The increased growth in registrations, both in cars and commercial vehicles, for the month of February clearly indicate that consumer and business confidence remain strong.
"The increase in new car registrations is partly due to the pent-up demand that arose as Ireland has replaced so few older cars with new ones over recent years."
He said other factors in the sales rise were lower new car prices , and the availability of low cost finance.
He said: "In particular those consumers with a car to trade-in are likely to benefit from higher valuations on their trade-ins because the lower level of new cars registered over the previous six years has resulted in a very strong demand for good quality used cars, resulting in a lower cost to change up to a new or newer car."
1 Hyundai
2 Toyota
3 Ford
4 Volkswagen
5 Nissan
1 Hyundai Tucson
2 Ford Focus
3 Volkswagen Golf
4 Skoda Octavia
5 Toyota Corolla
