Car sales down 16% despite July VRT rules

DESPITE a rise in car registrations in July following the introduction of new VRT rules, the number of new cars bought in the seven months of the year was more than 16% behind the same period last year.

According to the Central Statistics Office report there were 16,175 new private cars registered in July compared with 15,738 in July 2007.

There was also an increase in the total number of all vehicles registered in the month, from 29,721 in 2007 to 30,245 in 2008.