On 11 December 2025 the Headline Banner and bullet points 1, 2 and 3 of the Key Findings were amended for clarity. No data was amended.
The number of new private cars licensed in November 2025 fell by 6% when compared with November 2024 (1,901 vs 2,024).
The number of used (imported) cars licensed increased by 25% in November 2025 when compared with November 2024 (6,413 vs 5,124).
The number of new private electric cars licensed in November 2025 fell by 9% when compared with November 2024 (521 vs 575). Despite this the share of electric vehicles (EVs) among new private cars from January to November 2025 was 19% compared with 15% in the same period of 2024.
The number of new plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) licensed in November 2025 grew by 19% when compared with November 2024 (277 vs 232). 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 November 2025 has fallen in comparison with 2024 (43% vs 54%).
Volkswagen was the most popular make of new private car licensed in November 2025.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, new private cars licensed decreased by 1% in November 2025 compared with October 2025. The number of seasonally adjusted used (imported) private cars licensed went up by 2% 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 | November | January - November | |||||||
| 2024 | 2025 | Change | 2024 | 2025 | Change | ||||
| New vehicles | |||||||||
| New Private Cars | 2,024 | 1,901 | -123 | -6% | 115,639 | 119,959 | 4,320 | 4% | |
| New Goods Vehicles | 1,784 | 1,921 | 137 | 8% | 30,170 | 31,384 | 1,214 | 4% | |
| New Tractors | 94 | 123 | 29 | 31% | 2,070 | 2,379 | 309 | 15% | |
| New Motor Cycles | 107 | 96 | -11 | -10% | 2,708 | 2,655 | -53 | -2% | |
| New Exempt Vehicles | 256 | 199 | -57 | -22% | 6,262 | 6,484 | 222 | 4% | |
| New Other | 108 | 129 | 21 | 19% | 2,251 | 2,699 | 448 | 20% | |
| Total New Vehicles | 4,373 | 4,369 | -4 | 0% | 159,100 | 165,560 | 6,460 | 4% | |
| Used (imported) vehicles | |||||||||
| Used private cars | 5,124 | 6,413 | 1,289 | 25% | 58,132 | 66,096 | 7,964 | 14% | |
| Used goods vehicles | 1,063 | 1,124 | 61 | 6% | 10,205 | 11,545 | 1,340 | 13% | |
| Used tractors | 241 | 230 | -11 | -5% | 2,414 | 2,547 | 133 | 6% | |
| Used motorcycles | 172 | 173 | 1 | 1% | 2,639 | 2,649 | 10 | 0% | |
| Used other vehicles | 538 | 554 | 16 | 3% | 6,117 | 6,575 | 458 | 7% | |
| Total used vehicles | 7,138 | 8,494 | 1,356 | 19% | 79,507 | 89,412 | 9,905 | 12% | |
| Total all vehicles | 11,511 | 12,863 | 1,352 | 12% | 238,607 | 254,972 | 16,365 | 7% | |
Figure 2 In November 2025, 27% of all new private cars licensed were electric.
| Most popular makes of new cars, November 2025 | |
| Volkswagen | 13 |
| Skoda | 10 |
| Toyota | 7 |
| Kia | 7 |
| Tesla | 6 |
| Other | 56 |
| Most popular make of new electric model cars,November 2025 | |
| TeslaModel Y | 14 |
| TeslaModel 3 | 8 |
| FordExplorer | 7 |
| KiaEV 4 | 6 |
| BYDSealion 7 | 5 |
| Other | 59 |
| X-axis label | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Jan - Nov 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 | 26 |
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 December 2025) published Vehicles Licensed for the First Time for November 2025.
Commenting on the data, Damien Lenihan, Statistician in the Transport Section of the CSO, said: “Today’s figures from the CSO show a 9% fall in the number of new private electric cars licensed for the first time in November 2025 (521) when compared with the same month in 2024 (575). We saw growth in the licensing of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) which were up 19% from 232 in November 2024 to 277 new private cars in November 2025.
In the first 11 months of 2025, there was a rise of 38% in new private EVs licensed when compared with the same period in 2024 (23,134 vs 16,786). There were 31,031 new petrol cars licensed compared with 36,208 in the same period of 2024, a fall of 14%. Comparing the first 11 months of 2025 with 2024, the number of new diesel cars licensed went down by 23% (20,402 vs 26,562).
The total number of used private cars licensed in November 2025 rose by 25% compared with the same period in 2024 (6,413 vs 5,124). There were 1,500 used (imported) diesel private cars licensed in November 2025, compared with 1,381 in the same period of 2024. Used private petrol cars licensed increased by 8% in November 2025 compared with November 2024 (2,528 vs 2,333).
Data also shows that Volkswagen was the most popular make of new private car licensed in November 2025 at 255 vehicles, followed by Škoda (186), Toyota (141), Kia (138) and Tesla (119). Together, these five makes represented 44% of all new private cars licensed in November 2025 (See Table 4).
The most popular brand of new electric car licensed in November 2025 was Tesla Model Y (75), followed by Tesla Model 3 (44), and Ford Explorer (36). (See TEM28 for further information).”