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Vehicles licensed for the first time April 2024

Some 13% of new private cars licensed in the first four months of 2024 were electric, compared with 17% in the same period in 2023

Online ISSN: 2009-5678
CSO statistical release, , 11am

Key Findings

  • In the first four months of 2024, 13% (8,224) of all new cars licensed for the first time were electric compared with 17% (9,828) in the same period in 2023.

  • Looking at annual changes, the number of new cars licensed in April 2024 increased by 1,132 vehicles (10%) when compared with April 2023.

  • Almost a quarter (24%) of new private cars licensed in the first four months of 2024 were diesel compared with over a fifth (22%) in the same period in 2023.

  • The number of used cars licensed in the first four months of 2024 rose by 27% compared with the same period in 2023 (20,273 versus 16,022).

  • There were 5,451 used (imported) diesel private cars licensed in the first four months of 2024, compared with 5,779 in first four months of 2023, a fall of 6%.

  • Skoda (1,611) was the most popular make of new private cars licensed in April 2024.

Statistician's Comment

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (10 May 2024) published Vehicles licensed for the first time for April 2024.

Commenting on the data, Damien Linehan, Statistician in the Transport Section of the CSO, said: “Today’s figures from the CSO show the continued growth in the number of electric and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) vehicles licensed in Ireland. The number of PHEVs rose by 10% (from 4,752 to 5,245) in the first four months of 2024.

New petrol and electric cars were the most popular vehicles licensed in the first four months of 2024, accounting for one-fifth (21%) of all new cars licensed. In terms of car numbers, the number of petrol and electric vehicles licensed rose from 8,367 in the first four months of 2023 to 13,270 in the first four months of 2024. At the same time, new diesel cars licensed have increased by 17% in the same period and account for almost a quarter (24%) of all new private cars licensed.

Used Private Cars

There were 5,451 used (imported) diesel private cars licensed in the first four months of 2024, compared with 5,779 in the first four months of 2023, a fall of 6%. 

The total number of used vehicles licensed in the first four months of 2024 was up 21% compared with the same period in 2023 (See Table 1). 

Most Popular Car Brands

Data also shows that Skoda (1,611) was the most popular make of new private car licensed in April 2024, followed by Toyota (1,455), Volkswagen (1,361), Hyundai (940), and Kia (897). Together, these five makes represent half (50%) of all new private cars licensed in April 2024 (See Table 4). 

The most popular brand of new electric car licensed in April 2024 was Volkswagen ID.3 (134) followed by Volkswagen ID.4 (93) and BYD Seal (91) (See PxStat Table TEM28 for further information).

Editor's Note

Registration and licensing figures may differ in a given month for a number of reasons, some of which are outlined below:

  • Vehicles registered in the latter part of a particular month may not be licensed until a later month because of the time lapse between registration and first licensing.
  • In some cases, a vehicle may be registered by a dealership in advance of a sale.
  • Registered vehicles which are not used in a public place (e.g. tractors for use exclusively on the land) may not need to be licensed.
Table 1: Number of vehicles licensed for the first time
 April January - April
 20232024Change 20232024Change
New private cars11,27712,4091,13210% 57,13062,1655,0359%
New goods vehicles2,3883,9201,53264% 10,10912,7282,61926%
New other vehicles1,2251,42620116% 5,3725,6702986%
Total new vehicles14,89017,7552,86519% 72,61180,5637,95211%
          
Used private cars4,1455,3991,25430%16,02220,2734,25127%
Used goods vehicles7751,02625132%2,9623,50053818%
Used other vehicles1,0001,15915916%3,6683,719511%
Total used vehicles5,9207,5841,66428% 22,65227,4924,84021%

Cars Licensed

Figure 1 shows data on the number of new and used (imported) private cars licensed for the first time in April 2020 to April 2024

Figure 1 Private Cars Licensed for the first time
Table 2 Number of vehicles licensed for the first time classified by taxation class

Fuel & Emissions Type

Table 3A: Number of new private cars licensed for the first time by CO2 emission band and fuel type, April 2024

Table 3B Number of new private cars licensed for the first time by CO2 emission band and fuel type, January-April 2024

Car Makes

Most popular makes of new cars, April 2024
Skoda 13
Toyota12
Volkswagen 11
Hyundai8
Kia7
Other50
Most popular makes of new cars, April 2023
Skoda 9
Toyota12
Volkswagen12
Hyundai5
Kia8
Other53
Table 4 Number of new and used (imported) private cars licensed for the first time by make, April 2024

Seasonally Adjusted Figures

X-axis labelUnadjusted dataAdjusted dataTrend
April 2019137941060310047
May 20199126974910019
June 20193858101699746
July 20191874192579274
August 2019720287988732
September 2019410475348297
October 2019321476578071
November 2019167680238033
December 201972980558110
January 20202066586618214
February 20201326384978244
March 20201023968708170
April 2020133810691096
May 2020149017032718
June 2020218951975221
July 20201532977157800
August 2020736087989027
September 2020574790719133
October 2020418994659151
November 2020146863759008
December 20201032104408710
January 20211694881588313
February 20211167277877944
March 20211067265607702
April 2021821470727641
May 2021733781897720
June 20214980109887861
July 202120232106987991
August 2021856392928058
September 2021635493208062
October 2021388285258020
November 2021216786587979
December 202183281777965
January 20221581480247950
February 20221364393417927
March 20221187279307892
April 20221004583137866
May 2022712076467890
June 2022377478248027
July 20221507882558273
August 2022894285448564
September 20227315104108805
October 2022452795388954
November 2022235392829029
December 202286686059077
January 20231678786729212
February 20231328494609464
March 202315782102609803
April 202311277996410150
May 2023104521041910392
June 202355841098910428
July 202318106987510288
August 2023113281039510092
September 2023688298369935
October 2023458795029851
November 2023229194399850
December 20231064105489930
January 2024208611029010060
February 2024139799910
March 20241491610065
April 20241240910559
Table 5 Seasonally adjusted number of vehicles licensed for the first time classified by taxation class

Imported Cars

X-axis label20202021202220232024 to date
<1 year old21110
1-2 years old1811798
3-5 years old5656362927
6-9 years old2025424241
Over 10 years old57141924
Table 6 Number of new and used (imported) private cars licensed for the first time

Cars Licensed by Fuel Type

Table 7 Number of new and used (imported) private cars licensed for the first time by fuel type

Figure 6 shows the share of new private cars licensed by fuel type from November 2023 to April 2024. In April 2024, electric cars were 12% of all new private cars licensed.

Figure 6 New private cars licensed by fuel type, November 2023 to April 2024

The share of electric cars in the total number of new cars licensed grew from 1% in 2018 to 19% in 2023.

At the same time, the share of diesel cars is falling. In 2018, 54% of all new cars licensed were diesel cars compared with 22% in 2023. See figure 7 and figure 8.

X-axis labelPetrolDieselElectricPHEVHybridOther
201839541150
201940473180
2020374353120
2021323487180
20223027157201
20233322198171
X-axis labelNumber of new electric private carsPercentage of all new private cars
201812221
201934433
202039405
202185548
20221546215
20232249319

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