THE FIRST HALF of 2014 has seen a 26% increase in new cars licensed in comparison with the same period last year.

To the end of June this year, 62,280 new private cars have been licensed, up from 49,503 in 2013.

Figures from last year showed that a third of new cars were licensed in the second half of the year, indicating that the number of new private cars bought by the end of this year could rise to around 90,000.

The figures for the first half of this year include 124 newly-licensed electric cars, an increase of over 500% on the number licensed last year (that was just 23 cars).

The new figures from the CSO show that 3,390 cars were licensed in June 2014, an increase of 2.9% on the same period last year.

There was also a significant increase in the number of new goods vehicles licensed this month. There were 1,101 licensed in June 2014, an increase of 47.8% on the same period last year.

Volkswagen maintained its position as Ireland’s favourite car manufacturer for the first half of 2014, having had 7,558 new private cars license. Toyota was its closest competitor with 6,775 new private cars licensed.

Seen many ’141′ cars around?>