best sales figures on record in Northern Ireland. One Lamborghini and two McLaren sports cars also rolled out of local showrooms last year.

"Record highs were also evident in other luxury brands with seven Rolls-Royce cars sold in 2018 (up from 0 in 2017).

"Bentley also had its best year in 12 years with 33 cars sold."

Alan Gourley, tax director at Grant Thornton in Belfast said growing wealth among businesspeople could account for the growth for many types of luxury car.

"We have observed a marked increase over recent years in major deals closed locally, whether it is people selling property or businesses that they have built up over perhaps 30 or 40 years.

"This trend has created a lot of new wealth in Northern Ireland and as such, it is notcourse - but the numbers who are proactively perusing them online is certainly on the up." Mr Ramsey said that while new car sales overall had hit a five-year low in 2018, a look under the bonnet of the figures showed some brands and models were doing well.

"Some brands such as Vauxhall and Fiat posted their lowest sales figures in the last 20 years. Fiat saw sales slump by 45% last year. Peugeot sold 100 cars more than in 2017, though the latter marked a series low.

"Conversely, 2018 proved to be the best year ever for other mid-market brands, notably Seat and Skoda."

Belfast Telegraph