CSO figures show an increase in number of licensed electric and hybrid vehicles

DUBLIN: The latest data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) indicate that the overall number of licensed vehicles for the first time in Ireland fell across the board last year. The number of new private vehicles is projected to decline by 25.6% in 2020 compared to 2019.

However, CSO data show that there has been an increase in the number of licensed electric and hybrid vehicles in the last 12 months. The number of licenced electric cars increased by 1.7% and the number of hybrids increased by 5.4%. That’s 15% of the year’s new private cars.

The number of new petrol cars licenced in Ireland decreased by 3% last year, while the number of diesel cars decreased by 4.1%.

The used car sector, which saw a decline of 27.9% compared to 2019, suffered the biggest setback last year. During the same period, 84,309 new private cars were licensed for the first time. At the same time, licences for used goods vehicles decreased by 22.4%, while new goods vehicles saw the smallest decrease, falling by 12.8%last year.

According to CSO data, Jeep has the highest popularity among Irish people.  55% were licensed in the last year, up 1.4% since 2019. Meanwhile, the number of saloon and hatchback models fell slightly, 0.2% and 0.7% respectively.

Grey was Ireland’s most popular colour for new private cars in the last year and the Toyota Corolla, Volkwagen Tiguan and Hyundai Tucson were the most popular models.