Dublin: A significant drop in vehicle registrations, including electric cars, has raised concerns about the auto market in Ireland, with figures showing a 50% decline in June. Despite an overall increase in registrations for the year, the steep decline compared to the same period last year and specifically in June indicates a slowdown in vehicle sales.
In June of the previous year, there were 2,990 vehicle registrations, but this number has fallen to 1,499 this year. According to the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI), new electric car registrations also saw a sharp decline, with 692 electric cars registered in June 2024, compared to 1,432 in June 2023—a 52% decrease.
So far this year, 78,942 cars have been registered, slightly up from 77,602 during the same period last year, marking a modest increase of 1.7%. However, the overall decline in the electric car segment is notable. In 2023, 14,307 new electric cars were registered, while only 10,747 have been registered so far this year, representing a 25% decrease.
The breakdown of car types for this year shows petrol cars accounting for 32.96% of registrations, diesel cars 22.89%, hybrid (petrol-electric) cars 20.11%, electric cars 13.61%, and plug-in electric hybrids 8.83%.
Conversely, the sales of imported second-hand cars have seen a rise. This June, 5,165 used cars were registered, up from 4,228 in the same month last year, indicating a 22.2% increase. In 2023, a total of 25,025 used cars were imported, whereas this year, 31,372 second-hand vehicles have been imported so far, marking a 25.4% increase.
Among the popular car brands in June were Toyota, Volkswagen, Skoda, Hyundai, and Kia. The top-selling car models included the Hyundai Tucson, Skoda Octavia, Kia Sportage, Toyota Rav 4, and Toyota Yaris Cross. In the electric vehicle (EV) segment, the leading brands were Volkswagen, Tesla, Hyundai, BYD, and Kia, with the Volkswagen ID.4, Tesla Model Y, Tesla Model 3, Hyundai Kona, and MG being the most popular models.
SIMI Director General Brian Cooke emphasised the need for increased government intervention and support to aid the transition to electric vehicles, highlighting the market’s demand for more robust assistance in this area.
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