New statistics from Motorcheck.ie show that sales of new cars are now trailing 8 percent behind figures for 2012.
The latest results for January and February of 2013 come despite a last minute rush where almost a quarter of all registrations for February were registered on the last day of the month bringing the total number of new cars registered this year to 27,898.
Volkswagen maintain the top spot with 12 percent of sales, followed by Toyota with 10.5 percent and Ford at 10.04 percent.
The Volkswagen Golf has moved into the number one position with 1,351 sales recorded with the Nissan Qashqai in second position at 1,335 units.