New car sales are up 18.3 percent compared to the same period last year, and new cars arriving this year will include two new Lamborghinis, reports Breaking News.
August registrations fell slightly from last year to 8,131 compared to 8,154, but 112,729 new passenger cars have already been registered this year, compared to 95,269 at the end of August 2022.
All-electric vehicles accounted for 18 percent of new car sales, with 20,218 new electric vehicles registered at the end of August. Sales of electric vehicles have increased by 60 percent compared to last year.
Another 8.3 percent of sales are plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), while regular hybrids account for 19 percent.
Regular petrol engines remained the most popular choice, accounting for 31% of sales, followed by diesel engines with 22.3%.
The Volkswagen ID.4 is the best-selling electric car in the Irish market with 2,756 registrations, followed by the Tesla Model Y with 1,715, the Hyundai Ioniq 5 with 1,226 and the Skoda Enyaq with 1,152.
The Society of the Irish Motor Industry (CMI) is calling for current incentives for electric car buyers to be extended and more investment in charging infrastructure.
Brian Cooke, Simi director general said: “This year’s new car market has two notable features; the return to pre-pandemic sales levels and the ever-increasing share of electric vehicles. EVs registered for the first eight months of the year have broken the 20,000 barrier. This should only be viewed as a start. We have yet to return to new car sales levels that will reduce the age of the national fleet. We need to see an even greater levels of EV sales, both new and used, if we want to get close to the Government’s Climate Action ambitions,” reports Breaking News.
In the premium segment, Audi leads the market with 4,867 registrations, followed by BMW with 4,214 and Mercedes-Benz with 2,669. Two new Lamborghinis, two Bentleys and a Ferrari have also been registered in the Republic this year. The number of Lamborghinis registered in Ireland has risen to eight, according to the Irish Vehicle and Driver Statistics Bulletin. The starting price of the Lamborghini totals over 200,000 euros.
Car dealers prioritize private customer orders over supply to the rental market with big discounts. Only 106 electric vehicles are registered in the rental car market.
In the commercial vehicle market – the engine of economic activity – new registrations of light commercial vehicles (vans) rose 32 percent to 25,207. Ford and Renault are the two best-selling brands, followed by VW and Toyota Sales of the all-electric van have more than doubled this year to 759 units, up from 333 at this time last year.
In the new truck market, sales also increased by 30 percent to 2,502, with Scania leading with 635 registrations, followed by Volvo with 509 and Daf with 371, reports Breaking News.
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