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Vehicles licensed for the first time February 2025

New electric vehicles licensed in February 2025 rose by 38% compared with the same period last year

Online ISSN: 2009-5678

CSO statistical release, 25 March 2025, 11am

Key Findings

The total number of new private cars licensed in February 2025 grew slightly in comparison with the same period in 2024 (14,394 vs 13,979).
The number of used (imported) cars licensed increased by 9% (5,454 vs 4,994) over the same period.
The number of new electric vehicles (EVs) licensed in February rose by 38% when compared with February 2024 (2,853 vs 2,067). This means the share of EVs among new private cars increased to 20% in February compared with 15% in the same month in 2024.
The number of new plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) licensed in February grew by 65% when compared with February 2024 (2,179 vs 1,321). This has increased the share of PHEVs among new private cars to 15% in February from 9% in February 2024.
The combined share of petrol and diesel cars among new private cars licensed year to date has fallen in comparison with 2024 (42% vs 51%).
Toyota was the most popular make of new private car licensed in February 2025.

Statistician's Comment

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (25 March 2025) published Vehicles Licensed for the First Time for February 2025.

Commenting on the data, Damien Lenihan, Statistician in the Transport Section of the CSO, said: “Today’s figures from the CSO show a 38% increase in the number of electric cars licensed for the first time in February 2025 (2,853) when compared with the same month in 2024 (2,067). We also see growth in the licensing of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) which were up 65% from 1,321 in February of 2024 to 2,179 vehicles in the same period of 2025.

In the first two months of 2025, 9,593 new cars licensed were petrol compared with 10,121 in the same period of 2024, a fall of 5%. Comparing the first two months of 2025 with 2024, the number of new diesel cars licensed fell by 22% (6,079 vs 7,774).

Used Private Cars

The total number of used private cars licensed in February of 2025 rose by 9% compared with the same period in 2024 (5,454 vs 4,994).

There were 1,450 used (imported) diesel private cars licensed in February 2025, compared with 1,388 in the same period of 2024, an increase of 4%.

Most Popular Car Brands

Data also shows that Toyota was the most popular make of new private car licensed in February 2025 at 2,024 vehicles, followed by Hyundai (1,481), Volkswagen (1,363), Kia (1,323), and Skoda (1,083). Together, these five makes represented 51% of all new private cars licensed in February 2025 (See Table 5).

The most popular brand of new electric car licensed in February 2025 was Tesla Model 3 (313), followed by Volkswagen ID.4 (248), and Kia EV 3 (192) (See 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.

Cars Licensed

Figure 1 shows data on the number of new and used (imported) private cars licensed for the first time in February 2021 to February 2025.

Table 1 Number of vehicles licensed for the first time classified by taxation class
Taxation Class	February				January - February
Taxation Class	2024	2025	Change		2024	2025	Change
New vehicles
New Private Cars	13,979	14,394	415	3%	34,840	36,878	2,038	6%
New Goods Vehicles	3,257	3,116	-141	-4%	5,936	5,465	-471	-8%
New Tractors	250	231	-19	-8%	516	466	-50	-10%
New Motor Cycles	228	184	-44	-19%	479	424	-55	-11%
New Exempt Vehicles	745	792	47	6%	1,377	1,494	117	8%
New Other	254	265	11	4%	440	476	36	8%
Total New Vehicles	18,713	18,982	269	1%	43,588	45,203	1,615	4%

Used (imported) vehicles
Used private cars	4,994	5,454	460	9%	9,594	10,281	686	7%
Used goods vehicles	846	881	35	4%	1,603	1,802	200	12%
Used tractors	216	215	-1	0%	395	444	49	12%
Used motorcycles	220	222	2	1%	372	370	-2	-1%
Used other vehicles	429	517	88	21%	864	933	69	8%
Total used vehicles	6,705	7,289	584	9%	12,828	13,830	1,002	8%

Total all vehicles	25,418	26,271	853	3%	56,416	59,033	2,617	5%

Open in Excel: Vehicles licensed for the first time February 2025 Table 1 (XLS 17KB)

Visit Table TEM01 on PxStat

Cars licensed by fuel type

Figure 2 In February 2025 20% of all new private cars licensed were electric.

Table 2 Number of new and used (imported) private cars licensed for the first time by fuel type

Table 3 Annual change in number of new and used private cars by fuel type

Fuel & Emissions Type

Table 4 Number of new private cars licensed for the first time by CO2 emission band and fuel type

Car Makes

	Most popular makes of new cars, November 2024
Toyota	14
Hyundai	10
Volkswagen	9
Kia	9
Skoda	8
Other	49

	Most popular makes of new cars, November 2023
Toyota	16
Hyundai	9
Volkswagen	9
Kia	7
Skoda	10
Other	49

Table 5 Number of new and used (imported) private cars licensed for the first time by make, February 2025

New electric cars by make and model

	Most popular make of new electric model cars, February 2025
Tesla Model3	10
Volkswagen ID.4	7
Kia EV3	6
Kia EV6	5
Hyundai Getz	4
Other	64

	Most popular make of new electric model cars, February 2024
Tesla Model3	8
Volkswagen ID.4	6
BYD Seal	5
MGA MG4	4
Hyundai Kona	3
Other	74

Table 6 Top 20 new private cars licensed for the first time classified by fuel type and make and model, February 2025

Imported Cars

X-axis label	2021	2022	2023	2024	Feb 2025
<1 year old	1	1	1	1	0
1-2 years old	11	7	9	8	7
3-5 years old	56	36	29	27	23
6-9 years old	25	42	42	42	40
Over 10 years old	7	14	19	23	30

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

Seasonally Adjusted Figures

X-axis label	Unadjusted data	Adjusted data	Trend
February 2020	13263	8628	8266
March 2020	10239	6953	8175
April 2020	1338	1066	1123
May 2020	1490	1782	2664
June 2020	2189	5065	5020
July 2020	15329	7346	7517
August 2020	7360	8668	8857
September 2020	5747	9151	9137
October 2020	4189	9578	9239
November 2020	1468	6418	9132
December 2020	1032	10695	8854
January 2021	16948	8303	8498
February 2021	11672	7720	8240
March 2021	10672	6596	8203
April 2021	8214	6944	8415
May 2021	7337	8674	8777
June 2021	4980	10978	9134
July 2021	20232	10386	9352
August 2021	8563	9109	9357
September 2021	6354	9460	9199
October 2021	3882	8654	8970
November 2021	2167	8780	8745
December 2021	832	8322	8562
January 2022	15814	8206	8432
February 2022	13643	9236	8323
March 2022	11872	7937	8209
April 2022	10045	8051	8107
May 2022	7120	7817	8059
June 2022	3774	8390	8147
July 2022	15078	8056	8381
August 2022	8942	8580	8698
September 2022	7315	10608	8966
October 2022	4527	9975	9112
November 2022	2353	9496	9158
December 2022	866	8811	9155
January 2023	16787	8627	9202
February 2023	13284	9136	9339
March 2023	15782	10100	9587
April 2023	11277	9688	9890
May 2023	10452	10385	10164
June 2023	5584	12754	10308
July 2023	18106	9857	10336
August 2023	11328	10688	10317
September 2023	6882	10211	10284
October 2023	4587	10138	10229
November 2023	2291	9826	10152
December 2023	1064	10690	10096
January 2024	20861	9973	10039
February 2024	13979	9512	9965
March 2024	14916	9850	9866
April 2024	12409	10184	9728
May 2024	10055	9798	9562
June 2024	3499	8844	9379
July 2024	18512	9317	9197
August 2024	9280	9152	9067
September 2024	6110	9169	9073
October 2024	3994	8837	9232
November 2024	2024	9338	9503
December 2024	1044	9904
January 2025	22484	10538
February 2025	14394	10261

Table 8 Seasonally adjusted number of vehicles licensed for the first time classified by taxation class

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Table 2 Number of new and used (imported) private cars licensed for the first time by fuel type
	February				January - February
	2024	Share %¹	2025	Share %¹	2024	Share %¹	2025	Share %¹
Fuel type	New
Petrol	4,002	29%	3,664	25%	10,121	29%	9,593	26%
Diesel	3,437	25%	2,409	17%	7,774	22%	6,079	16%
Electric	2,067	15%	2,853	20%	4,896	14%	6,238	17%
PHEV²	1,321	9%	2,179	15%	3,033	9%	5,606	15%
Hybrid	3,152	23%	3,289	23%	9,016	26%	9,361	25%
Other	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	1	0%
Total	13,979	100%	14,394	100%	34,840	100%	36,878	100%
	Used (imported)
Petrol	2,260	45%	2,404	44%	4,281	45%	4,482	44%
Diesel	1,388	28%	1,450	27%	2,664	28%	2,754	27%
Electric	143	3%	171	3%	293	3%	314	3%
PHEV²	583	12%	730	13%	1,084	11%	1,316	13%
Hybrid	620	12%	699	13%	1,272	13%	1,415	14%
Other	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%
Total	4,994	100%	5,454	100%	9,594	100%	10,281	100%
	New and Used (imported)
Petrol	6,262	33%	6,068	31%	14,402	32%	14,075	30%
Diesel	4,825	25%	3,859	19%	10,438	23%	8,833	19%
Electric	2,210	12%	3,024	15%	5,189	12%	6,553	14%
PHEV²	1,904	10%	2,909	15%	4,117	9%	6,922	15%
Hybrid	3,772	20%	3,988	20%	10,288	23%	10,776	23%
Other	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%	0	0%
Total	18,973	100%	19,848	100%	44,434	100%	47,159	100%
¹ Percentage share may not equal 100% due to rounding
² Plug-in hybrid electric vehicle

Table 3 Number of new and used (imported) private cars licensed for the first time by fuel type
	February			January - February
	2024	2025	% Change	2024	2025	% Change
Fuel type	New
Petrol	4,002	3,664	-8%	10,121	9,593	-5%
Diesel	3,437	2,409	-30%	7,774	6,079	-22%
Electric	2,067	2,853	38%	4,896	6,238	27%
PHEV¹	1,321	2,179	65%	3,033	5,606	85%
Hybrid	3,152	3,289	4%	9,016	9,361	4%
Other	0	0	..	0	1	..
Total	13,979	14,394	3%	34,840	36,878	6%
	Used (imported)
Petrol	2,260	2,404	6%	4,281	4,482	5%
Diesel	1,388	1,450	4%	2,664	2,754	3%
Electric	143	171	20%	293	314	7%
PHEV¹	583	730	25%	1,084	1,316	21%
Hybrid	620	699	13%	1,272	1,415	11%
Other	0	0	..	0	0	..
Total	4,994	5,454	9%	9,594	10,281	7%
	New and Used (imported)
Petrol	6,262	6,068	-3%	14,402	14,075	-2%
Diesel	4,825	3,859	-20%	10,438	8,833	-15%
Electric	2,210	3,024	37%	5,189	6,552	26%
PHEV¹	1,904	2,909	53%	4,117	6,922	68%
Hybrid	3,772	3,988	6%	10,288	10,776	5%
Other	0	0	..	0	1	..
Total	18,973	19,848	5%	44,434	47,159	6%
¹ Plug-in hybrid electric vehicle

Table 4 Number of new private cars licensed for the first time by CO₂ emission band and fuel type
Band	Petrol	Diesel	Electric	Petrol & electric hybrid	Diesel & electric hybrid	Petrol or Diesel plug-in electric hybrid	Other	Total
	February 2025
A	974	212	2,853	2,169	2	2,178	0	8,388
B	2,474	803	0	907	111	0	0	4,295
C	169	1,184	0	19	71	0	0	1,443
D	19	75	0	5	2	0	0	101
E	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	9
F	5	29	0	1	1	0	0	36
G	5	4	0	0	0	0	0	9
Not available	9	102	0	1	0	1	0	113
Total	3,664	2,409	2,853	3,102	187	2,179	0	14,394
	January - February 2025
A	2,544	568	6,239	6,374	11	5,605	0	21,341
B	6,453	1,944	0	2,440	259	0	0	11,096
C	430	3,055	0	58	197	0	0	3,740
D	76	186	0	7	7	0	0	276
E	40	7	0	0	1	0	0	48
F	11	89	0	1	4	0	0	105
G	17	8	0	0	0	0	0	25
Not available	22	222	0	1	1	1	0	247
Total	9,593	6,079	6,239	8,881	480	5,606	0	36,878

Table 5 Number of new and used (imported) private cars licensed for the first time by make, February 2025
Make	February			January - February
Make	New	Used (imported)	Total	New	Used (imported)	Total
Audi	595	698	1,293	1,492	1,345	2,837
BMW	561	654	1,215	1,395	1,172	2,567
BYD	290	0	290	525	1	526
Citroen	137	63	200	278	109	387
Cupra	285	5	290	556	6	562
Dacia	402	11	413	1,141	22	1,163
Fiat	73	44	117	142	76	218
Ford	483	282	765	1,421	499	1,920
Honda	45	336	381	115	679	794
Hyundai	1,481	83	1,564	4,210	147	4,357
Jaguar	3	17	20	5	24	29
Kia	1,323	64	1,387	3,115	112	3,227
Land Rover	137	118	255	278	213	491
Lexus	201	29	230	496	58	554
Mazda	125	62	187	387	122	509
Mercedes Benz	390	379	769	976	681	1,657
Mini	119	38	157	220	74	294
Mitsubishi	0	51	51	0	95	95
Nissan	422	235	657	1,597	458	2,055
Opel	296	1	297	720	3	723
Peugeot	610	179	789	1,479	323	1,802
Renault	347	63	410	966	147	1,113
Seat	240	38	278	494	88	582
Skoda	1,083	95	1,178	3,038	178	3,216
Ssangyong	4	0	4	8	0	8
Subaru	2	4	6	4	6	10
Suzuki	440	71	511	801	142	943
Tesla	353	12	365	523	19	542
Toyota	2,024	446	2,470	5,787	882	6,669
Vauxhall	0	55	55	0	122	122
Volkswagen	1,363	1,108	2,471	3,319	2,080	5,399
Volvo	254	143	397	602	280	882
Other	306	70	376	788	118	906
Total	14,394	5,454	19,848	36,878	10,281	47,159
Further details on makes are available in the following PxStat tables

Table 7 Number of new and used (imported) private cars licensed for the first time
Private cars	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025 Feb
New	101,853	101,349	117,424	116,683	14,394
Used (imported)	68,042	46,567	50,381	61,838	5,454
Total	169,895	147,916	167,805	178,521	19,848
% used (imported)	40%	31%	30%	35%	27%

Vehicles licensed for the first time February 2025