European Automobile Manufacturers Association data shows that 23,307 new cars were registered in Ireland during last month, which represented a 30% increase on March 2003.
In the first three months of 2004, there were 77,171 new cars registered in Ireland, up 10.1% on the same time last year.
In Europe the three most popular makes in March were Volkswagen, PSA (Peugeot and Citroen) and Ford.