New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that the number of new cars licensed for the first time in April sank by 90.3% as the outbreak of Covid-19 forced car salesrooms to close all around the country.
The CSO said the number of new cars licensed for the first time last month fell to 1,338 from 13,794 the same time last year.
The number of used, or imported, cars licensed also slumped by 84.9% to 1,321 from 8,728. Meanwhile, the number of new cars licensed in the first four months of 2020 was 45,505, down over 29% from 64,655 the same time last year.
Recent SIMI figures showed a steeper drop for April than the CSO licensing figures with new car registrations falling to just 344 in April.