The number of new private cars licensed for July 2025 rose by 8% when compared with July 2024 (19,923 vs 18,512).
The number of used (imported) cars licensed increased by 17% (6,640 vs 5,660) over the same period.
The number of new electric vehicles (EVs) licensed in July 2025 rose by 64% when compared with July 2024 (3,973 vs 2,421). This means the share of EVs among new private cars from January to July 2025 was 17% compared with 14% in the same period of 2024.
The number of new plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) licensed in July 2025 grew by 56% when compared with July 2024 (3,080 vs 1,974). 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 July 2025 has fallen in comparison with 2024 (44% vs 56%).
Toyota was the most popular make of new private car licensed in July 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 July 2021 to July 2025.
| Table 1 Number of vehicles licensed for the first time classified by taxation class | |||||||||
| Taxation Class | July | January - July | |||||||
| 2024 | 2025 | Change | 2024 | 2025 | Change | ||||
| New vehicles | |||||||||
| New Private Cars | 18,512 | 19,923 | 1,411 | 8% | 94,231 | 97,884 | 3,653 | 4% | |
| New Goods Vehicles | 2,942 | 2,945 | 3 | 0% | 21,199 | 20,364 | -835 | -4% | |
| New Tractors | 203 | 254 | 51 | 25% | 1,552 | 1,658 | 106 | 7% | |
| New Motor Cycles | 344 | 383 | 39 | 11% | 1,959 | 1,894 | -65 | -3% | |
| New Exempt Vehicles | 861 | 877 | 16 | 2% | 4,262 | 4,542 | 280 | 7% | |
| New Other | 225 | 269 | 44 | 20% | 1,706 | 1,981 | 275 | 16% | |
| Total New Vehicles | 23,087 | 24,651 | 1,564 | 7% | 124,909 | 128,323 | 3,414 | 3% | |
| Used (imported) vehicles | |||||||||
| Used private cars | 5,660 | 6,640 | 980 | 17% | 36,753 | 39,967 | 3,214 | 9% | |
| Used goods vehicles | 944 | 1,201 | 257 | 27% | 6,272 | 7,289 | 1,017 | 16% | |
| Used tractors | 229 | 269 | 40 | 17% | 1,584 | 1,632 | 48 | 3% | |
| Used motorcycles | 249 | 311 | 62 | 25% | 1,756 | 1,805 | 49 | 3% | |
| Used other vehicles | 637 | 700 | 63 | 10% | 3,777 | 4,132 | 355 | 9% | |
| Total used vehicles | 7,719 | 9,121 | 1,402 | 18% | 50,142 | 54,825 | 4,683 | 9% | |
| Total all vehicles | 30,806 | 33,772 | 2,966 | 10% | 175,051 | 183,148 | 8,097 | 5% | |
Figure 2 In July 2025, 20% of all new private cars licensed were electric.
| Most popular makes of new cars, July 2025 | |
| Toyota | 14 |
| Volkswagen | 12 |
| Hyundai | 11 |
| Skoda | 11 |
| Kia | 8 |
| Other | 45 |
| Most popular make of new electric model cars, July 2025 | |
| Volkswagen ID.4 | 9 |
| HyundaiInster | 8 |
| KiaEV 3 | 7 |
| SkodaElroq | 5 |
| Tesla ModelY | 4 |
| Other | 67 |
| X-axis label | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Jan - July 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| <1 year old | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 1-2 years old | 11 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 8 |
| 3-5 years old | 56 | 36 | 29 | 27 | 24 |
| 6-9 years old | 25 | 42 | 42 | 42 | 40 |
| Over 10 years old | 7 | 14 | 19 | 23 | 28 |
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (13 August 2025) published Vehicles Licensed for the First Time for July 2025.
Commenting on the data, Damien Lenihan, Statistician in the Transport Section of the CSO, said: “Today’s figures from the CSO show a 64% increase in the number of electric cars licensed for the first time in July 2025 (3,973) when compared with the same month in 2024 (2,421). We also saw growth in the licensing of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) which were up 56% from 1,974 in July 2024 to 3,080 vehicles in July 2025.
In the first seven months of 2025, there was a rise of 34% in new private electric cars licensed when compared with the same period in 2024 (17,075 vs 12,765). There were 26,454 new petrol cars licensed compared with 30,911 in the same period of 2024, a fall of 14%. Comparing the first seven months of 2025 with 2024, the number of new diesel cars licensed decreased by 23% (16,681 vs 21,624).
The total number of used private cars licensed in July 2025 rose by 17% compared with the same period in 2024 (6,640 vs 5,660). There were 1,614 used (imported) diesel private cars licensed in July 2025, compared with 1,490 in the same period of 2024, a rise of 8%. Used private petrol cars licensed decreased by 9% in July 2025 compared with July 2024 (2,799 vs 2,577).
Data also shows that Toyota was the most popular make of new private car licensed in July 2025 at 2,851 vehicles, followed by Volkswagen (2,358), Hyundai (2,142), Škoda (2,093), and Kia (1,524). Together, these five makes represented 55% of all new private cars licensed in July 2025 (See Table 4).
The most popular brand of new electric car licensed in July 2025 was Volkswagen ID.4 (343), followed by Hyundai Inster (325), and Kia EV 3 (272) (See TEM28 for further information).”