Surging electric car sales drive 24% jump in new car registrations

There were 27,148 new car registrations last month, representing a 24% increase compared to the same month last year, according to the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI).

A total of 104,641 new car registrations have been made so far this year - a 20.1% increase compared to the 87,115 registrations for the same period last year.

The move to electric continues to gather pace with 4,161 new electric vehicles registered for the month of July compared to 2,729 in July 2022, marking a significant 52.47% increase. So far this year, there has been a 65.17% increase in new electric cars registered with 18,458 in comparison to 11,175 in the same period in 2022. 

In July, the car market share grew with petrol retaining the largest share at 32.29% with diesel trailing at 22.06%. Hybrids accounted for 18.04%, electric 17.64%, and plug-in electric Hybrid 7.67%. 

A surge in battery electric vehicles, Plug-in Hybrids and Hybrids now see their combined market share at 43.35% for the year to date.  

Imported used cars seen a 4.83% increase to 4,409 in July 2023, when compared to 4,206 in July 2022, while year to date imports are up 3.96% to 29,435 compared with 28,315 in 2022.

The top five selling car brands in 2023 so far were Toyota, Volkwagen, Hyundai, Skoda, and Kia; while the top five car models were the Hyundai Tucson, Kia Sportage, Toyota Corolla, Toyota Yaris Cross and Volkswagen ID.4.