New sales drop by a quarter

THE number of new cars registered last year fell by a quarter to 84,309 – down by almost 29,000.

Meanwhile, imports of second-hand cars fell to 30,354 or 28%, the CSO’s figures for 2020 revealed.

However, electric and hybrid car sales continue to grow. The CSO reported: ‘These two categories of vehicles combined accounted for 19.7% of new private cars licensed in 2020, compared with 12.7% in 2019.’

New hybrid and electric cars grew by 1,754 (16.1%) and 497 (14.4%) respectively in 2020.