New car numbers slide for June

The number of new cars licensed has fallen by 2.6% in the first half of 2003 compared to the same period last year.

There was a monthly slide of 6.4% as 12,180 cars were licensed in June this year compared to 13,017 in June 2002.

The total number of all vehicles licensed rose marginally by 0.6% to 143,885 for the first six months of 2003.

New goods vehicles licensing accounted for the largest increase with a 13.4% upswing in the first half of the year.