Number of new car sales up by over 25%

The number of new cars taxed for the first time last month jumped by more than a quarter compared to last year — as car sales continue to soar.

Coming less than a week after the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) predicted car sales will top 100,000 this year for the first time since the economic crash, new figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show the motor trade is returning to boom levels of trade.

The CSO figures show the number of new cars licensed for the first time last month increased by 25.9% to 20,105 compared to January 2014.