There was a 61% increase in the number of new private electric cars licensed in January 2026 when compared with January 2025 (5,439 vs 3,386). This means the share of electric vehicles (EVs) among new private cars in January 2026 was 22% compared with 15% in the same month of 2025. The most popular make of new electric car licensed was the Volkswagen ID.4.
The number of new private cars licensed in January 2026 grew by 8% when compared with January 2025 (24,231 vs 22,484).
The number of used (imported) cars licensed increased by 46% in January 2026 when compared with January 2025 (7,028 vs 4,827).
The number of new plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) licensed in January 2026 grew by 10% when compared with January 2025 (3,781 vs 3,427).
The combined share of petrol and diesel cars among new private cars licensed fell from 43% in January 2025 to 31% in January 2026.
Toyota was the most popular make of new private car licensed in January 2026.
The number of new goods vehicles increased by 23% in January 2026 when compared with January 2025 (2,887 vs 2,349).
On a seasonally adjusted basis, new private cars licensed increased by 17% in January 2026 compared with December 2025. The number of seasonally adjusted used (imported) private cars licensed went up by 7% 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 | January | |||
| 2025 | 2026 | Change | ||
| New vehicles | ||||
| New Private Cars | 22,484 | 24,231 | 1,747 | 8% |
| New Goods Vehicles | 2,349 | 2,887 | 538 | 23% |
| New Tractors | 235 | 339 | 104 | 44% |
| New Motor Cycles | 240 | 293 | 53 | 22% |
| New Exempt Vehicles | 702 | 720 | 18 | 3% |
| New Other | 211 | 180 | -31 | -15% |
| Total New Vehicles | 26,221 | 28,650 | 2,429 | 9% |
| Used (imported) vehicles | ||||
| Used private cars | 4,827 | 7,028 | 2,201 | 46% |
| Used goods vehicles | 921 | 1,050 | 129 | 14% |
| Used tractors | 229 | 257 | 28 | 12% |
| Used motorcycles | 148 | 215 | 67 | 45% |
| Used other vehicles | 416 | 529 | 113 | 27% |
| Total used vehicles | 6,541 | 9,079 | 2,538 | 39% |
| Total all vehicles | 32,762 | 37,729 | 4,967 | 15% |
Figure 2 In January 2026, 22% of all new private cars licensed were electric.
| Most popular makes of new cars, January 2026 | |
| Toyota | 15 |
| Hyundai | 12 |
| Volkswagen | 9 |
| Kia | 9 |
| Skoda | 8 |
| Other | 47 |
| Most popular make of new electric model cars, January 2026 | |
| VolkswagenID.4 | 8 |
| HyundaiInster | 5 |
| HyundaiKona | 5 |
| KiaEV 3 | 5 |
| Other | 73 |
| BYDSealion 7 | 4 |
| X-axis label | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| <1 year old | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 1-2 years old | 7 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 9 |
| 3-5 years old | 36 | 29 | 27 | 25 | 22 |
| 6-9 years old | 42 | 42 | 42 | 39 | 37 |
| Over 10 years old | 14 | 19 | 23 | 26 | 31 |
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 (13 February 2026) published Vehicles Licensed for the First Time for January 2026.
Commenting on the data, Damien Lenihan, Statistician in the Transport Section of the CSO, said: “Today’s figures from the CSO show a 61% jump in the number of new private electric cars (EVs) licensed for the first time in January 2026 (5,439) when compared with the same month in 2025 (3,386). We also saw growth in the licensing of new private plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) which were up 10% from 3,427 in January 2025 to 3,781 in January 2026.
There were 4,639 new petrol cars licensed in January 2026 compared with 5,929 in the same month in 2025, a fall of 22%, while over the same period, the number of new diesel cars licensed went down by 20% (2,933 vs 3,670). Overall, we can see the combined share of petrol and diesel cars among new private cars licensed fell from 43% in January 2025 to 31% in January 2026.
The total number of used private cars licensed in January 2026 rose by 46% compared with the same period in 2025 (7,028 vs 4,827). There were 1,505 used (imported) diesel private cars licensed in January 2026, compared with 1,304 in the same period of 2025. Used private petrol cars licensed increased by 38% in January 2026 compared with January 2025 (2,877 vs 2,078).
New goods vehicles licensed in January 2026 increased by 23% when compared with January 2025 (2,887 vs 2,349). Used (imported) goods vehicles increased by 14% over the same period (1,050 vs 921).”
Most Popular Makes
Data shows that Toyota was the most popular make of new private car licensed in January 2026 at 3,692 vehicles, followed by Hyundai (3,011), Volkswagen (2,106), Kia (2,060), and Skoda (1,945). Together, these five makes represented 53% of all new private cars licensed in January 2026 (See Table 4).
The most popular brand of new electric car licensed in January 2026 was Volkswagen ID.4 (462), followed by Hyundai Inster (281), and Hyundai Kona (254) (See TEM28 for further information).