The total number of new private cars licensed in April 2026 fell by 8% when compared with April 2025 (11,930 vs 13,033).
The number of used (imported) cars licensed grew by 40% in April 2026 when compared with April 2025 (7,732 vs 5,537). The share of electric vehicles (EVs) among used (imported) cars from January to April 2026 was 9% compared with 3% in the same period of 2025.
The number of new private electric cars licensed in April 2026 rose by 73% when compared with April 2025 (3,089 vs 1,783). This means the share of electric vehicles (EVs) among new private cars from January to April 2026 was 23% compared with 16% in the same period of 2025.
The number of new plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) licensed in April 2026 increased by 3% in comparison with April 2025 (1,810 vs 1,761). The year-to-date share of PHEVs in 2026 among new private cars was comparable with 2025 at 15%.
The combined share of petrol and diesel cars among new private cars licensed from January to April 2026 was down in comparison with 2025 (34% vs 44%).
Overall, Toyota was the most popular make of new private car licensed in April 2026, while the Toyota C-HR was the most popular make of electric car.
The number of new goods vehicles was up by 21% in April 2026 when compared with April 2025 (3,787 vs 3,130).
On a seasonally adjusted basis, new private cars licensed was comparable in April 2026 with March 2026. The number of seasonally adjusted used (imported) private cars licensed rose by 3% over the same period.
Registration and licensing figures may differ in a given month for a number of reasons, some of which are outlined below:
| Table 1 Number of vehicles licensed for the first time classified by taxation class | |||||||||
| Taxation Class | April | January - April | |||||||
| 2025 | 2026 | Change | 2025 | 2026 | Change | ||||
| New vehicles | |||||||||
| New Private Cars | 13,033 | 11,930 | -1,103 | -8% | 64,299 | 64,951 | 652 | 1% | |
| New Goods Vehicles | 3,130 | 3,787 | 657 | 21% | 11,859 | 14,012 | 2,153 | 18% | |
| New Tractors | 240 | 287 | 47 | 20% | 927 | 1,190 | 263 | 28% | |
| New Motor Cycles | 294 | 321 | 27 | 9% | 1,005 | 1,121 | 116 | 12% | |
| New Exempt Vehicles | 704 | 644 | -60 | -9% | 2,910 | 2,823 | -87 | -3% | |
| New Other | 328 | 312 | -16 | -5% | 1,082 | 1,108 | 26 | 2% | |
| Total New Vehicles | 17,729 | 17,281 | -448 | -3% | 82,082 | 85,205 | 3,123 | 4% | |
| Used (imported) vehicles | |||||||||
| Used private cars | 5,537 | 7,732 | 2,195 | 40% | 21,735 | 30,369 | 8,634 | 40% | |
| Used goods vehicles | 1,069 | 1,184 | 115 | 11% | 3,938 | 4,544 | 606 | 15% | |
| Used tractors | 242 | 258 | 16 | 7% | 895 | 966 | 71 | 8% | |
| Used motorcycles | 322 | 338 | 16 | 5% | 936 | 1,072 | 136 | 15% | |
| Used other vehicles | 644 | 740 | 96 | 15% | 2,158 | 2,533 | 375 | 17% | |
| Total used vehicles | 7,814 | 10,252 | 2,438 | 31% | 29,662 | 39,484 | 9,822 | 33% | |
| Total all vehicles | 25,543 | 27,533 | 1,990 | 8% | 111,744 | 124,689 | 12,945 | 12% | |
Figure 2 In April 2026, 26% of all new private cars licensed were electric.
| Most popular makes of new cars, April 2026 | |
| Toyota | 13 |
| Volkswagen | 12 |
| Skoda | 11 |
| Kia | 8 |
| Hyundai | 7 |
| Other | 49 |
| Most popular make of new electric model cars, April 2026 | |
| SkodaEnyaq | 5 |
| VolkswagenID.4 | 4 |
| Other | 75 |
| SkodaElroq | 4 |
| HyundaiIoniq 6 | 4 |
| ToyotaC-HR | 7 |
| X-axis label | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | Jan - Apr 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| <1 year old | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 1-2 years old | 7 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 11 |
| 3-5 years old | 36 | 29 | 27 | 25 | 24 |
| 6-9 years old | 42 | 42 | 42 | 39 | 36 |
| Over 10 years old | 14 | 19 | 23 | 26 | 29 |
Check the rankings of new vehicles for the most recent month as well as year
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (12 May 2026) published Vehicles Licensed for the First Time for April 2026.
Commenting on the data, Damien Lenihan, Statistician in the Transport Section of the CSO, said: “Today’s figures from the CSO show a 73% increase in the number of new private electric cars (EVs) licensed for the first time in April 2026 (3,089) when compared with the same month in 2025 (1,783). We saw a decrease in the licensing of hybrid vehicles which were down 14% from 3,233 in April 2025 to 2,796 new private cars in April 2026.
The total number of used (imported) private cars licensed in April 2026 rose by 40% compared with the same period in 2025 (7,732 vs 5,537). There were 1,543 used (imported) diesel private cars licensed in April 2026, compared with 1,504 in the same period of 2025. Used (imported) private petrol cars licensed went up by 21% in April 2026 compared with April 2025 (2,845 vs 2,352).
In the first four months of 2026, there was a 43% rise in new private EVs licensed when compared with the same period in 2025 (15,031 vs 10,495). The same four-month period showed a fall of 23% in the number of new petrol cars licensed (17,446 vs 13,469). Similarly, a 24% decrease in the number of new diesel cars licensed was seen over the same period (10,917 vs 8,295).
The total number of new goods vehicles licensed for the first time in April was 3,787, up 21% on April 2025 (3,130). There were 14,012 new goods vehicles licensed from January to April 2026 which was an increase of 18% on the 11,859 licensed over the same period of 2025.
Most Popular Makes
Data also shows that Toyota was the most popular make of new private car licensed in April 2026 at 1,545 vehicles, followed by Volkswagen (1,408), Skoda (1,330), Kia (928), and Hyundai (859). Together, these five makes represented 51% of all new private cars licensed in April 2026 (See Table 4).
The most popular brand of new electric car licensed in April 2026 was Toyota C-HR (214), followed by Skoda Enyaq (165), and Volkswagen ID.4 (130) (See TEM28 for further information).”