New car registrations up by 7% in January

The Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) released their official 251 new vehicle registration statistics for January, showcasing a promising start to the year for the motor industry.

New car registrations for the month of January were up 7% (33,521) compared to January 2024 (31,407).

Light Commercial vehicles (LCV) are down 16% (6,270) compared to January last year (7,478). While HGV (Heavy Goods Vehicle) registrations are showing an increase of 8% (489) in comparison to January 2024 (454).

Imported Used Cars saw a 5% (5,604) rise in January 2025, when compared to January 2024 (5,325). Electric Vehicle (EV) sales experienced a record-breaking month with the highest sales recorded to date, 4,925 registrations in January, representing 20% increase when compared to 4,093 in January 2024.

In the new car market share by engine type, Petrol cars remain the leader (despite a decline in share) at 28.24%, followed by hybrid (petrol electric) 24.89%, diesel at 16.31%, electric at 14.69% and plug-in electric hybrid at 14.17%.

Automatic transmissions account for 71.71% of market share, while manual transmissions continue to see a decline 28.28%.

“The new car market has started positively, with 33,521 new cars registered in January, an increase of 7% on the same month last year,” said Brian Cooke, SIMI Director General.

“The underlying EV market continues to be dependent heavily on private sales which benefit from SEAI grant support, highlighting the importance of ongoing Government incentives to help stimulate the market.

“However, while there is cautious optimism over the trajectory of EV sales, one good month of sales does not necessarily define the whole year, and we still have a long way to go in the transition to electrification. The supply of EVs is there, with more newer EV models coming on stream across a range of price-points, so the focus must be clearly on supporting demand in what is still a relatively new market.”