The number of new private cars licensed in January was down 4.8 per cent at 10,469 on the same period last year, according to figures released today by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
The decrease came despite the introduction of the new scrappage scheme in the December budget that had been expected to boost new car sales.
Industry specialists have blamed the freezing weather at the beginning of the year on the rather tame figures.
However, the data shows there was an increase in the number of new goods vehicles licensed in January, which was 1,016 compared with 976 in the corresponding month last year, an increase of 4.1 per cent.
The licensing figures refer only to vehicles taxed for road use.
The figures showed the total number of all vehicles licensed in January was 15,595 compared with 19,341 in the same month last year, a decrease of 19.4 per cent.
The total number of all “new” vehicles licensed during the month was 12,062 compared with 13,084 during the same month in 2009, a drop of 7.8 per cent.
The highest number of new private cars, classified by make, was Ford (1,731) followed by Toyota (1,610), Renault (1,074) and Volkswagen (1,066).
The Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) said the lower-than-expected figures for new car registrations were related to poor weather at the beginning of January.
A SIMI spokeswoman said: “The first two weeks of the month were pretty much written off for dealers because of the freezing weather.
“People are more likely to hold off buying new vehicles and dealers are inclined to defer taking delivery of cars in such conditions,” she said.
Another reason may that people delayed the taxing of their vehicles until the latter half of the month and the process can take up to 10 days, she said.
She predicted this month's figures would better reflect the impact of the scrappage scheme.
SIMI’s own figures for new car sales in January, released earlier this month, were up 5 per cent on the same period last year.
