New car sales fall nearly 50%

SALES of new cars are grinding to a halt with figures showing the number of new vehicles licensed last month fell by nearly a half.

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) figures show 2,272 new private cars were licensed in September 2009, compared with 4,364 for the same month in 2008, a decrease of 47.9%.

The motor industry admitted yesterday it had been a morbid year for sales in the sector. Industry bosses warned the outlook would be even worse unless some incentives for new car sales are driven out by the Government.