The '142' registration plate is proving popular. The number of new private cars licensed for the first time last month increased by 50.8% on July 2013.

Figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show 14,037 new private cars were licenced.

Used cars licensed for the first time were also up 6.4% to 4,879 for the same period.

In total, there were 76,317 new private cars licensed in the year to the end of July 2014 - a rise of 29.8% compared to the same period in 2013.

Until the end of July, over 76,000 new private cars were licensed - up almost 30% on last year.

For the year to the end of July, Volkswagen ranked highest with 9,148 new cars. This was followed by Toyota (8,347), Ford (7,729) and Hyundai (6,549).

Last month, the total number of all vehicles licensed was 23,211, compared with 17,426 in the same month last year - an increase of 33.2%.