Electric vehicle sales continue to drive growth in new car registrations this year, figures from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (Simi) show.
One in three of all cars registered in October was electric, the Simi data show, accounting for 709 of the 2,132 cars registered last month. Electric car registrations were over 34 per cent higher than in the same month last year.
The strong numbers for electric vehicles came despite a 9.3 per cent drop overall in new car registrations in October - to 2,192 compared with more than 2,400 at the same time last year.
It was the third monthly fall for the sector in what was generally been a positive year for new cars sales, with registrations up by 3.4 per cent overall. Sales of battery electric vehicles to date in 2025 are running 38.6 per cent ahead of the 2024 figures.
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“October’s new battery electric car registrations indicate growth in every county,” said Simi director general Brian Cooke, noting that electric vehicle sales have been ahead - and over 20 per cent ahead in all bar one of those months.
There has also been a significant rebound in the number of used cars being imported to the Republic. The figure for October, 6,791, is a multiple of the new car registrations and 19 per cent up on the same month last year. So far this year, imports are 13.1 per cent up on last year.
In the new car market, petrol continues to be most favoured among motorists, accounting for 25.23 per cent of all new cars. That is followed by hybrid engines at 22.56 per cent, battery electric at 18.64 per cent, diesel at 17.13 per cent and plug-in electric hybrid at 14.83 per cent.
In the commercial side of the market, registrations of light commercial vehicles was up 41.8 per cent on October 2024, with 1,195 new vans registered. The light commercial market is up 4.7 per cent year to date.
Going against trend, registrations of heavy goods vehicles are down 7.6 per cent over the first 10 months of 2025. However, the numbers were up in October by 7.8 per cent.
