New car sales down 12 per cent

New car sales for the first eight months of the year are down 12 per cent, when compared to the corresponding period last year, figures released by the Society of the Irish Motor Industry confirm.

To the end of August 74,158 new cars have been registered, down from 84,396 units for the corresponding period last year. There were 3,098 new cars sold in August, 4 per cent down on August last year.

Almost three out of four new cars registered this year (74 per cent) have diesel engines, compared to 23 per cent with petrol engines.