The total number of new private cars licensed in March 2025 decreased by 4% in comparison with the same period in 2024 (14,388 vs 14,916).
The number of used (imported) cars licensed increased by 12% (5,917 vs 5,280) over the same period.
The number of new electric vehicles (EVs) licensed in March rose by 31% when compared with March 2024 (2,473 vs 1,884). This means the share of EVs among new private cars increased to 17% in March compared with 13% in the same month in 2024.
The number of new plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) licensed in March 2025 grew by 84% when compared with March 2024 (2,202 vs 1,195). This has increased the share of PHEVs among new private cars to 15% in March 2025 from 8% in March 2024.
The combined share of petrol and diesel cars among new private cars licensed year to date has fallen in comparison with 2024 (43% vs 54%).
Toyota was the most popular make of new private car licensed in March 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 March 2021 to March 2025.
| Table 1 Number of vehicles licensed for the first time classified by taxation class | |||||||||
| Taxation Class | March | January - March | |||||||
| 2024 | 2025 | Change | 2024 | 2025 | Change | ||||
| New vehicles | |||||||||
| New Private Cars | 14,916 | 14,388 | -528 | -4% | 49,756 | 51,266 | 1,510 | 3% | |
| New Goods Vehicles | 2,872 | 3,264 | 392 | 14% | 8,808 | 8,729 | -79 | -1% | |
| New Tractors | 226 | 221 | -5 | -2% | 742 | 687 | -55 | -7% | |
| New Motor Cycles | 293 | 287 | -6 | -2% | 772 | 711 | -61 | -8% | |
| New Exempt Vehicles | 680 | 712 | 32 | 5% | 2,057 | 2,206 | 149 | 7% | |
| New Other | 233 | 278 | 45 | 19% | 673 | 754 | 81 | 12% | |
| Total New Vehicles | 19,220 | 19,150 | -70 | 0% | 62,808 | 64,353 | 1,545 | 2% | |
| Used (imported) vehicles | |||||||||
| Used private cars | 5,280 | 5,917 | 637 | 12% | 14,874 | 16,198 | 1,324 | 9% | |
| Used goods vehicles | 871 | 1,067 | 196 | 23% | 2,474 | 2,869 | 395 | 16% | |
| Used tractors | 231 | 209 | -22 | -10% | 626 | 653 | 27 | 4% | |
| Used motorcycles | 216 | 244 | 28 | 13% | 588 | 614 | 26 | 4% | |
| Used other vehicles | 482 | 581 | 99 | 21% | 1,346 | 1,514 | 168 | 12% | |
| Total used vehicles | 7,080 | 8,018 | 938 | 13% | 19,908 | 21,848 | 1,940 | 10% | |
| Total all vehicles | 26,300 | 27,168 | 868 | 3% | 82,716 | 86,201 | 3,485 | 4% | |
Figure 2 In March 2025 20% of all new private cars licensed were electric.
| Most popular makes of new cars, March 2025 | |
| Toyota | 15 |
| Volkswagen | 11 |
| Skoda | 10 |
| Hyundai | 8 |
| Kia | 7 |
| Other | 50 |
| Most popular makes of new cars, March 2024 | |
| Toyota | 13 |
| Volkswagen | 12 |
| Skoda | 13 |
| Hyundai | 7 |
| Kia | 7 |
| Other | 48 |
| Most popular make of new electric model cars, March 2025 | |
| TeslaModel3 | 9 |
| VolkswagenID.4 | 8 |
| KiaEV3 | 6 |
| KiaEV6 | 4 |
| MG MG4 | 4 |
| Other | 68 |
| Most popular make of new electric model cars, March 2024 | |
| TeslaModel Y | 12 |
| TeslaModel 3 | 10 |
| MGAMG4 | 6 |
| SkodaEnyaq | 5 |
| Audie-tron | 4 |
| Other | 63 |
| X-axis label | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Mar 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 |
| X-axis label | Unadjusted data | Adjusted data | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|
| March 2020 | 10239 | 6910 | 7092 |
| April 2020 | 1338 | 1059 | 1084 |
| May 2020 | 1490 | 1758 | 1758 |
| June 2020 | 2189 | 4645 | 3849 |
| July 2020 | 15329 | 7162 | 6682 |
| August 2020 | 7360 | 8966 | 9233 |
| September 2020 | 5747 | 9810 | 10220 |
| October 2020 | 4189 | 10318 | 10199 |
| November 2020 | 1468 | 7104 | 7330 |
| December 2020 | 1032 | 11332 | 7445 |
| January 2021 | 16948 | 8191 | 7597 |
| February 2021 | 11672 | 7760 | 7817 |
| March 2021 | 10672 | 6592 | 8111 |
| April 2021 | 8214 | 6872 | 8506 |
| May 2021 | 7337 | 8659 | 8953 |
| June 2021 | 4980 | 10051 | 9378 |
| July 2021 | 20232 | 10143 | 9702 |
| August 2021 | 8563 | 9344 | 9816 |
| September 2021 | 6354 | 10066 | 9712 |
| October 2021 | 3882 | 9207 | 9471 |
| November 2021 | 2167 | 9442 | 9184 |
| December 2021 | 832 | 8703 | 8911 |
| January 2022 | 15814 | 8135 | 8662 |
| February 2022 | 13643 | 9215 | 8407 |
| March 2022 | 11872 | 7997 | 8162 |
| April 2022 | 10045 | 8000 | 7967 |
| May 2022 | 7120 | 7760 | 7876 |
| June 2022 | 3774 | 7821 | 7984 |
| July 2022 | 15078 | 7925 | 8301 |
| August 2022 | 8942 | 8743 | 8752 |
| September 2022 | 7315 | 10980 | 9168 |
| October 2022 | 4527 | 10432 | 9418 |
| November 2022 | 2353 | 9983 | 9489 |
| December 2022 | 866 | 9073 | 9425 |
| January 2023 | 16787 | 8510 | 9375 |
| February 2023 | 13284 | 9113 | 9433 |
| March 2023 | 15782 | 10135 | 9638 |
| April 2023 | 11277 | 9704 | 9940 |
| May 2023 | 10452 | 10374 | 10242 |
| June 2023 | 5584 | 11984 | 10424 |
| July 2023 | 18106 | 9794 | 10486 |
| August 2023 | 11328 | 10845 | 10491 |
| September 2023 | 6882 | 10411 | 10468 |
| October 2023 | 4587 | 10314 | 10407 |
| November 2023 | 2291 | 10059 | 10307 |
| December 2023 | 1064 | 10843 | 10211 |
| January 2024 | 20861 | 9963 | 10102 |
| February 2024 | 13979 | 9504 | 9969 |
| March 2024 | 14916 | 9820 | 9831 |
| April 2024 | 12409 | 10096 | 9675 |
| May 2024 | 10055 | 9786 | 9516 |
| June 2024 | 3499 | 8550 | 9360 |
| July 2024 | 18512 | 9309 | 9215 |
| August 2024 | 9280 | 9215 | 9120 |
| September 2024 | 6110 | 9253 | 9150 |
| October 2024 | 3994 | 8989 | 9317 |
| November 2024 | 2024 | 9412 | 9577 |
| December 2024 | 1044 | 9927 | 9875 |
| January 2025 | 22484 | 10542 | |
| February 2025 | 14394 | 10274 | |
| March 2025 | 14388 | 10362 |
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 April 2025) published Vehicles Licensed for the First Time for March 2025.
Commenting on the data, Damien Lenihan, Statistician in the Transport Section of the CSO, said: “Today’s figures from the CSO show a 31% increase in the number of electric cars licensed for the first time in March 2025 (2,473) when compared with the same month in 2024 (1,884). We also see growth in the licensing of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) which were up 84% from 1,195 in March of 2024 to 2,202 vehicles in March 2025.
In the first three months of 2025, 13,498 new cars licensed were petrol compared with 15,284 in the same period of 2024, a fall of 12%. Comparing the first three months of 2025 with 2024, the number of new diesel cars licensed fell by 25% (8,609 vs 11,512).
Used Private Cars
The total number of used private cars licensed in March 2025 rose by 12% compared with the same period in 2024 (5,917 vs 5,280).
There were 1,605 used (imported) diesel private cars licensed in March 2025, compared with 1,362 in the same period of 2024, an increase of 18%.
Most Popular Car Brands
Data also shows that Toyota was the most popular make of new private car licensed in March 2025 at 2,101 vehicles, followed by Volkswagen (1,521), Skoda (1,416), Hyundai (1,119), and Kia (1,059). Together, these five makes represented 50% of all new private cars licensed in March 2025 (See Table 5).
The most popular brand of new electric car licensed in March 2025 was Tesla Model 3 (231), followed by Volkswagen ID.4 (205), and Kia EV3 (148) (See TEM28 for further information).”