Electric cars are the big winners in the official 222 new vehicle registration figures for October.
The Society of the Irish Motor Industry reveals new car registrations for the month were down 2.1 per cent (2,624 ) when compared to October 2021 (2,680 ). Registrations year to date are marginally up 0.6 per cent (104,056 ) on the same period last year (103,425 ), but are 10.4 per cent behind (116,124 ) pre-Covid levels.
However, there were 741 new electric vehicles registered last month compared to 519 in October 2021. So far this year 15,241 new electric cars have been registered in comparison to 8,338 on the same period 2021, an increase of 82.8 per cent.
The Volkswagen ID.4 was the top selling car for October. It is also the best selling EV in Ireland so far this year. The top five best selling car brands year to date are Toyota, Hyundai, Volkswagen, Kia and Skoda.
Electric vehicle, plug-in hybrids and hybrids continue to increase their market share, with a combined market share now of 40.8 per cent.
Petrol continues to remain dominant with 30.21 per cent; diesel at 26.86 per cent; hybrid 19.37 per cent; electric 14.65 per cent; and plug-in electric hybrid 6.78 per cent.
Used car imports for October (3,336 ) have seen a decrease of 24.2 per cent on October 2021 (4,401 ). Year to date imports are down 26.6 per cent (40,753 ) on 2021 (55,539 ).
Meanwhile, LCV sales are up 14 per cent (1,448 ) compared to October last year (1,270 ) and year to date are down 18.8 per cent (22,452 ). HGV registrations are down 11.4 per cent (187 ) in comparison to October 2021 (211 ). Year to date this segment is down 6.9 per cent (2,303 ).
Brian Cooke, director general at SIMI, says the electric car segment continues to grow strongly, with more than 15,241 electric cars sold this year, an 83 per cent increase on last year and a nearly four-fold increase on 2020.
“With hugely challenging emission reduction targets over the next decade, at both national and EU level, it is vital that EV sales continue to gather pace.
“In the short term, concerns over both increasing energy costs and raw material supply shortages have the potential to slow down the growth in EV sales.
“In this context it is essential that the industry and Government work closely to create an environment where EVs remain not only a strong environmental choice, but also a cost-effective choice for consumers and businesses.
“This includes targeted Government support in the establishment of a national charging infrastructure, and also the extension of EV purchase incentives beyond 2023.”
