FORD claims to have bucked the new car sales trend in Ireland - increasing its sales by almost 8% in a market that declined by more than 5%.

This was achieved, an executive said, despite difficult trading conditions.

The manufacturer said that for the first three months of this year its sales in Ireland were up 7.7% to 9,207 cars, in a car market that fell by 5.1% to 70,290 units.