New car sales up 9.4% this year as electric cars continue to surge
Michael McAleer
New car registrations are up 9.4 per cent at 40,476 to the end of February. Figures for last month show 13,161 new registrations, up 9.9 per cent on the same month last year.
The growth in electric car sales continues, with 2,219 new EVs registered in February, an increase of 37.5 per cent on last year. So far this year 5,893 new electric cars have been registered in comparison to 4,311 on the same period 2022.
Electric Vehicle and Plug-in Hybrids and Hybrids continue to increase their market share, with a combined market share now of 41 per cent. Petrol engines accounts for 32.48 per cent, diesel 23.32 per cent, hybrid 19.16 per cent, Electric 14.56 per cent and Plug-in Electric Hybrid 7.6 per cent.
The best-selling car brand remains Toyota with 6,150 registrations, ahead of Hyundai with 5,113 and Volkswagen with 3,954. The best-selling model was the Hyundai Tucson with 2,364, followed by the Toyota Yaris Cross with 1,402 registrations and Kia's Sportage with 1,304. Of the electric cars on the market, Hyundai's Ioniq 5 is the best seller with 950, followed by the VW ID.4 with 795.
According to Brian Cooke, director general of the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (Simi): "Increased supply, strong Government supports and the State’s commitment to investing in charging infrastructure, are all essential elements in encouraging the transition to electric.
"Drilling into the EV sales patterns, it is important to highlight private customers, who still benefit from the SEAI Grant, account for 75 per cent of EV sales so far this year, with these sales increasing by over 40 per cent when compared to last year.
"On the other hand, sales of new EVs to companies, which don’t benefit from the grant support, and which now attract a higher level of BIK [benefit in kind tax] since January, are slightly down on last year. This underlines the importance of the grant, and it is vital that we don’t interrupt consumer momentum by continuing this support at current levels beyond June."
In the commercial vehicle market - seen as a bellwether for national economic activity - sales of vans (LCVs) are up 11.0 per cent at 8,152, while new Heavy Goods Vehicles are also showing an increase of 49.9 per cent on the same period last year, with 691 registrations.
