The number of new cars licensed for the first time rose by 23.9 per cent in the first six months of the year, figures show.
Data from the Central Statistics Office indicates 97,490 new cars received licenses in the period January to June.
The number of used imported cars rose by 25 per cent compared to the same period last year.
A total of 4,143 new private cars were licensed for the first time last month, an increase of 5.6 per cent compared with June 2015.
A total of 5,459 used cars were licensed, representing an increase of 45 per cent on the same month last year.
Volkswagen was the most popular make of new car licensed in the first half of 2016, with 10.9 per cent market share.
Toyota was the second most popular car make with 10,384 new private cars licensed and a 10.7 per cent market share, followed by Hyundai, Ford and Nissan.
In the first half of 2016, seven out of every ten (70.3 per cent) new private cars licensed were diesel fuelled.