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The number of new private cars licensed for August 2025 rose by 1% when compared with August 2024 (9,355 vs 9,280).
The number of used (imported) cars licensed increased by 12% (6,048 vs 5,408) over the same period.
The number of new electric vehicles (EVs) licensed in August 2025 rose by 53% when compared with August 2024 (2,394 vs 1,568). This means the share of EVs among new private cars from January to August 2025 was 18% compared with 14% in the same eight-month period of 2024.
The number of new plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) licensed in August 2025 grew by 51% when compared with August 2024 (1,522 vs 1,006). This has increased the year-to-date share of PHEVs among new private cars from 9% to 15% in the same period of 2024.
The combined share of petrol and diesel cars among new private cars licensed from January to August 2025 has fallen in comparison with 2024 (44% vs 55%).
Petrol was the most popular new private car licensed from January to August 2025 with 28,431 cars, followed by hybrid cars (24,925) and electric cars (19,469).
Volkswagen was the most popular make of new private car licensed in August 2025.
Registration and licensing figures may differ in a given month for a number of reasons, some of which are outlined below:
Figure 1 shows data on the number of new and used (imported) private cars licensed for the first time in August 2021 to August 2025.
| Table 1 Number of vehicles licensed for the first time classified by taxation class | |||||||||
| Taxation Class | August | January - August | |||||||
| 2024 | 2025 | Change | 2024 | 2025 | Change | ||||
| New vehicles | |||||||||
| New Private Cars | 9,280 | 9,355 | 75 | 1% | 103,511 | 107,239 | 3,728 | 4% | |
| New Goods Vehicles | 2,627 | 2,673 | 46 | 2% | 23,826 | 23,037 | -789 | -3% | |
| New Tractors | 184 | 217 | 33 | 18% | 1,736 | 1,875 | 139 | 8% | |
| New Motor Cycles | 267 | 260 | -7 | -3% | 2,226 | 2,154 | -72 | -3% | |
| New Exempt Vehicles | 756 | 766 | 10 | 1% | 5,018 | 5,308 | 290 | 6% | |
| New Other | 173 | 184 | 11 | 6% | 1,879 | 2,165 | 286 | 15% | |
| Total New Vehicles | 13,287 | 13,455 | 168 | 1% | 138,196 | 141,778 | 3,582 | 3% | |
| Used (imported) vehicles | |||||||||
| Used private cars | 5,408 | 6,048 | 640 | 12% | 42,161 | 46,015 | 3,854 | 9% | |
| Used goods vehicles | 887 | 976 | 89 | 10% | 7,159 | 8,265 | 1,106 | 15% | |
| Used tractors | 198 | 209 | 11 | 6% | 1,782 | 1,841 | 59 | 3% | |
| Used motorcycles | 258 | 253 | -5 | -2% | 2,014 | 2,058 | 44 | 2% | |
| Used other vehicles | 646 | 627 | -19 | -3% | 4,423 | 4,759 | 336 | 8% | |
| Total used vehicles | 7,397 | 8,113 | 716 | 10% | 57,539 | 62,938 | 5,399 | 9% | |
| Total all vehicles | 20,684 | 21,568 | 884 | 4% | 195,735 | 204,716 | 8,981 | 5% | |
Figure 2 In August 2025, 20% of all new private cars licensed were electric.
| Most popular makes of new cars, August 2025 | |
| Volkswagen | 13 |
| Toyota | 11 |
| Skoda | 11 |
| Hyundai | 8 |
| Kia | 8 |
| Other | 49 |
| Most popular make of new electric model cars, August 2025 | |
| Volkswagen ID.4 | 10 |
| SkodaElroq | 6 |
| BYDSealion 7 | 6 |
| KiaEV 3 | 5 |
| Tesla ModelY | 5 |
| Other | 69 |
| X-axis label | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Jan - Aug 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| <1 year old | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 1-2 years old | 11 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 8 |
| 3-5 years old | 56 | 36 | 29 | 27 | 25 |
| 6-9 years old | 25 | 42 | 42 | 42 | 40 |
| Over 10 years old | 7 | 14 | 19 | 23 | 27 |
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 (10 September 2025) published Vehicles Licensed for the First Time for August 2025.
Commenting on the data, Damien Lenihan, Statistician in the Transport Section of the CSO, said: “Today’s figures from the CSO show a 53% increase in the number of electric cars licensed for the first time in August 2025 (2,394) when compared with the same month in 2024 (1,568). We also saw growth in the licensing of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) which were up 51% from 1,006 in August 2024 to 1,522 vehicles in August 2025.
In the first eight months of 2025, there was a rise of 36% in new private electric cars licensed when compared with the same period of 2024 (19,469 vs 14,333). There were 28,431 new petrol cars licensed compared with 33,267 in the same period of 2024, a fall of 15%. Comparing the first eight months of 2025 with 2024, the number of new diesel cars licensed decreased by 23% (18,215 vs 23,753).
The total number of used private cars licensed in August 2025 rose by 12% compared with the same month in 2024 (6,048 vs 5,408). There were 1,437 used (imported) diesel private cars licensed in August 2025, compared with 1,439 in August 2024. Used private petrol cars licensed decreased by 2% in August 2025 compared with the same month in 2024 (2,508 vs 2,554).
Most Popular Car Makes
Data also shows that Volkswagen was the most popular make of new private car licensed in August 2025 at 1,216 vehicles, followed by Toyota (1,061), Škoda (1,000), Hyundai (725) and Kia (725). Together, these five makes represented 51% of all new private cars licensed in August 2025 (See Table 4).
The most popular brand of new electric car licensed in August 2025 was Volkswagen id.4 (231), followed by Skoda Elroq (149), and BYD Sealion 7 (141) (See TEM28 for further information).”