NEW CAR REGISTRATIONS are up by 27 per cent in the first quarter of this year when compared to the same period in 2013.

New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that there were 39,366 vehicles licensed for the first time in 2014, compared to 31,002 last year.

There was a smaller gain for March when compared to the same month last year, but results were still 8.4 per cent higher.

Volkswagen proved the most popular brand during March with 1,409, beating off competition from Nissan (1,232) Ford (1,183) and Hyundai (988).

Over the course of the three months to the end of March however, Volkswagen was beaten into second place by Japanese manufacturer Toyota, which led the field with 5,483 new car registrations.

The CSO data show gains across all classes of new vehicle registrations, with goods vehicles also posting a 50.7 per cent increase to 4,603.

A total of 13,371 imported cars were also registered for the first time.

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