New car sales record bumper year in 2016

More than 146-thousand cars were sold in this country last year - contributing a billion and a half Euro to the economy.

The figures represent an increase of 17.5 percent on 2015. The average price of a new car is now 5-point-5 percent lower than 12 months ago, but petrol prices are up almost 2 percent. There's been a steady start for sales so far this year - with 142-thousand sales expected this year.