New electric car sales down 25% in first-half of year

Michael McAleer

Sales of new electric cars were down 25 per cent in the first half of this year compared to the same period last year.

This is despite an overall 1.7 per cent increase in new car registrations, with 78,942 new cars on Irish roads so far this year.

With the new 242 registrations starting from today, figures from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) show that for the first-half of 2024, petrol engines remain the most popular format for new car buyers, making up 33 per cent of sales, followed by diesel engines on 22.9 per cent, and then petrol-electric hybrids with just over 20 per cent. Electric cars make up 13.6 per cent with plug-in hybrids accounting for 8.8 per cent of new car sales.

Brian Cooke, SIMI Director General said the decline in the new EV car market "continues to highlight the need for Government to support the EV transition, with ways to incentivise the market for both private and company car buyers".

"Extending consumer incentives and Benefit-in-Kind support, along with investment in charging infrastructure will build consumer and business confidence and encourage uptake," he said.

"Retailers remain optimistic as we enter the 242-registration plate sales period, and with new models coming to the market along with a variety of attractive offers are positive that this will help to boost sales activity in July, the second-busiest month for new car sales.”

Toyota is the best-selling new car brand, with 11,673 registrations, ahead of Volkswagen on 8,463, Skoda on 8,076, Hyundai on 7,111 and Kia on 5,617. The best-selling model is the Hyundai Tucson on 3,390, ahead of the Skoda Octavia on 3,140.

The best-selling EV is the Volkswagen ID.4, with 862 registrations, followed by the Tesla Model Y with 823, and Tesla's Model 3 with 777. While there has been a significant increase in motor industry registrations of EVs, up 68 per cent at 1,841, all other sales markets have recorded a slump. In particular, the hire-drive market recorded just five EV registrations so far this year, compared to 104 this time last year. This is against an overall increase in hire drive registrations of 23.4 per cent.

In the commercial vehicle market, registrations of new vans were up 17.8 per cent on last year at 20,229, while sales of heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) stood at 1,826, up 17.9 per cent on last year.

Sales of electric vans are up 6 per cent on last year, but with 466 registrations this year, still represent only 2.3 per cent of the market.