The number of new vehicles registered during March increased by 48 per cent, compared to March last year.

New figures from the CSO show the biggest rise was for goods vehicles - up 56 per cent.

There were more than 17 thousand new private cars registered - an increase of 49 per cent on March last year.

The most popular brands were Volkswagen at 12 per cent, Hyundai and Nissan - both at 11 per cent - Toyota at 9 and Ford at 8 per cent.

The number of new private cars bought during the first three months this year is up by a third compared to 2014.