New car sales are at their highest in eight years.

New car registrations for March rose by 14% (21,597) when compared with the same month last year, according to official statistics from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI).

Here’s a briefing on some of the stories and issues highlighted on irishexaminer.com today.

Car sales to date this year are already the highest in five years — as the motor trade continues to outstrip all expectations.

Car sales this year are outstripping all earlier forecasts.

Car clocking is costing Irish consumers up to €60m every year, as the EU looks to stamp out the practice by creating a mileage database.

Dublin is the worst performing county in terms of year-on-year car sales — in a sign that the economic recovery is not restricted to the capital.

More drivers are still opting to change a car at the start of the year, with the bulk of new motor sales recorded in the first three months, despite the introduction of the dual registration system.

Motorcheck.ie uncovers some interesting facts about the new and used car market and what it means for the car buyer

The number of new cars sold in the first half of this year is the best since 2008, and up 24% on the same period for 2013.

New car sales are on the rise with the highest figures recorded since the start of the recession.

Used car prices increased by as much as a third over the last four years, it has emerged.

The sales of new cars rose by more than 25% in the first three months of this year, with the motor trade on target to experience its strongest sales since 2008.

New car sales increased by almost a third last month, when compared to January 2013, according to Motorcheck.ie.

The “clocking” of cars is set to become a specific criminal offence under measures announced by Transport Minister Leo Varadkar last night.

Irish car dealers say there has been a 43% increase in car sales compared with this time last year.

New car sales were down 6.4% in 2013 compared with the previous year, although the sale of new commercial vehicles was up 3% over the same period, according to the website, MotorCheck.ie.

New car sales were down by over 6% year-on-year.

The latest statistics from the Motorcheck.ie New Car Index show that sales for new cars in November are down 22% on the same month last year.

New statistics from Motorcheck.ie show that sales of new cars are now just 6% behind those recorded for 2012.

New car sales are down 6% on last year, according to Motorcheck.ie, which today published its latest sales figures for October.

Car buyers are being warned to be on the look-out for used cars being sold with fake NCT certificates, after more than 850 of the certs were stolen in Co Louth.

In a boost to the motor trade, the number of new cars licensed last month jumped by more than 20% compared to last year.

Nearly four-out-of-five used car buyers are avoiding their local car dealer and buying on the private market.

More than 2,000 cars have been taken off the road this year after being classed as dangerous by the National Car Testing Service.

New car sales are down for the fifth consecutive month, according to figures from Motorcheck.ie.

The latest figures from the Motorcheck.ie car index show that an early increase in new car registrations experienced in January has fallen back from 28% to just 4.7% for March.

The latest new car registration statistics from the Motorcheck.ie Car Index shows a rise of 180% for April 2010 when compared to the same month in 2009.

There was a dramatic increase in new car registrations for March, reversing last year's trend of falling sales for the first quarter.

The Government's scrappage scheme seems to have given a much needed boost to the motor trade.

New car registrations for the month of January exceeded those recorded last year by just 4.6%, despite the introduction of a Government scrappage scheme.