Boost for motor trade as new car sales speed up by 48%

New car sales almost doubled last month compared to 2014 — with more than 17,000 new private cars registered.

Figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show a total of 17,054 new cars were registered in March — a spike of 48.5% when compared with the same month last year.

In the first quarter of 2015, there were 52,543 new cars licensed — a rise of 33.5% compared with the same quarter last year