Electrified vehicles, including hybrids, plug-in hybrids and fully electric cars, now make up almost two-thirds of all new car sales in Ireland, with electric vehicle registrations doubling in May, reports Breaking News.
Combined sales of EVs, hybrids and plug-in hybrids now account for 65.7 per cent of all new car registrations, reflecting a major shift in consumer buying patterns, reports Breaking News.
New car sales overall have risen by 4.7 per cent compared with last year, with 83,038 new cars registered in the first five months of the year, reports Breaking News.
May proved particularly strong, with registrations up 38.6 per cent to 10,087 vehicles, driven in part by a sharp rise in electric vehicle sales which doubled to 2,335 units during the month, according to figures from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI), reports Breaking News.
The strong performance in May comes ahead of the traditionally busy July registration period and the introduction of the new 262 registration plate, reports Breaking News.
Hybrids remain the most popular powertrain choice, accounting for 28 per cent of all registrations so far this year, while EVs have become the second-largest segment at 23 per cent, ahead of petrol at 21.4 per cent, reports Breaking News.
Plug-in hybrids account for 14.7 per cent of sales, while diesel has fallen to 12.9 per cent of the market, reports Breaking News.
Toyota continues to lead the Irish new car market with a 14 per cent share, ahead of Volkswagen at 11.3 per cent, Škoda at 9.85 per cent and Hyundai at 8.7 per cent, reports Breaking News.
The Toyota Yaris Cross is the best-selling model so far this year with 2,738 registrations, followed by the Hyundai Tucson with 2,509, reports Breaking News.
Chinese manufacturers are continuing to increase their presence, now accounting for 5.5 per cent of the Irish new car market, although established European, Japanese and Korean brands still dominate overall, reports Breaking News.
Of the 19,050 electric vehicles sold this year, Volkswagen leads the market with 2,464 registrations and also has the top-selling EV with its ID.4 model, reports Breaking News.
Hyundai is second with 2,168 EV registrations, closely followed by Kia, while Škoda and BYD complete the top five electric vehicle brands, reports Breaking News.
In the rental market, petrol cars still dominate, accounting for 47 per cent of the 9,245 hire vehicles registered so far this year, followed by hybrids at 28 per cent and diesel at 18 per cent, while only 31 electric vehicles have been registered in the hire fleet, reports Breaking News.
In the commercial sector, light commercial vehicle registrations rose by 15 per cent to 20,410 units, with Ford leading the market at 19.25 per cent share, ahead of Volkswagen and Renault, reports Breaking News.
However, the heavy goods vehicle market has declined by 4.3 per cent year-on-year, with 1,457 registrations recorded up to the end of May, reports Breaking News.
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