The number of new electric cars registered in the last year has dropped by 24 per cent, with 17,459 registrations in the past 12 months, new figures show.
According to the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (Simi), the number of new cars bought in 2024 was 121,195, a slight decrease of one per cent compared with the previous year.
Simi have released their official new vehicle registrations statistics for 2024.
New light commercial vehicle (LCV) registrations in 2024 saw an increase of seven per cent compared with 2023.
New heavy commercial vehicle registrations (HGV) increased by eight per cent to 2,865 from 2,655 in 2023.
Imported used cars saw 61,583 registrations in 2024, an increase of 21.4 per cent on 2023.
Petrol remains the most popular engine type for 2024, while electric, hybrid, and plug-in hybrid account for over 45 per cent of the market.
Petrol has a market share of 30 per cent, followed by diesel at 22 per cent, hybrid has a market share of 20 per cent, electric at 14 per cent, and plug-in hybrid at 10 per cent.
Automatic transmissions now account for 66 per cent of the market share, while manual transmissions have declined to 33 per cent.
The hatchback continues to remain Ireland’s top-selling car body type of 2024, while grey has retained the top-selling colour title for the ninth year running.
Brian Cooke, Simi director-general, said: “The new car market in 2024 was in line with the previous year, with new car registrations finishing at 121,195 units, slightly behind 2023 at 122,400 units.
“Commercial vehicles sales, underlining the growth in employment and activity across the Irish economy, were more positive with LCV registrations finishing 7% ahead of last year and HGVs up eight per cent on 2023.
“The key feature of the 2024 new car market was the decline in electric vehicle (EV) sales, a reduction of 24 per cent compared to 2023.
“There has, however, been some tentative signs of a turnaround in EV sales towards the end of 2024, and the industry is anticipating an increase in EV sales in 2025.
“The start of the new registration period, 251, this week, is an optimistic time for the Irish Motor Industry.
“With the variety of incentives and offers from retailers and manufacturers it is a good time for customers to shop for a new or used car.”
