Car registrations decline by 21%

New car registrations fell by 21% last month, compared to February 2016, a decrease that was worse than expected by the industry.

The Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) said the 17,128 new cars registered in February were lower than expected, even taking into account the impact of Brexit has had on the import of used vehicles from the UK.

February 2016 saw 21,573 new cars registered, and while it had an extra day trading due to the leap year, the drop in sales this year was more than SIMI had hoped.