The total number of new private electric cars licensed in October 2025 rose by 52% when compared with October 2024 (1,144 vs 751). This means the share of EVs among new private cars from January to October 2025 was 19% compared with 14% in the same period of 2024.
The number of new private cars licensed in October 2025 rose by 3% when compared with October 2024 (4,096 vs 3,994).
The number of used (imported) cars licensed increased by 26% (6,898 vs 5,454) over the same period.
The number of new plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) licensed in October 2025 grew by 23% when compared with October 2024 (616 vs 500). 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 October 2025 has fallen in comparison with 2024 (43% vs 54%).
Volkswagen was the most popular make of new private car licensed in October 2025.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, new private cars licensed decreased by 1% in October 2025 compared with September 2025. The number of seasonally adjusted used (imported) private cars licensed went up by 4% 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:
Figure 1 shows data on the number of new and used (imported) private cars licensed for the first time in October 2021 to October 2025.
| Table 1 Number of vehicles licensed for the first time classified by taxation class | |||||||||
| Taxation Class | October | January - October | |||||||
| 2024 | 2025 | Change | 2024 | 2025 | Change | ||||
| New vehicles | |||||||||
| New Private Cars | 3,994 | 4,096 | 102 | 3% | 113,615 | 118,058 | 4,443 | 4% | |
| New Goods Vehicles | 2,218 | 2,906 | 688 | 31% | 28,386 | 29,463 | 1,077 | 4% | |
| New Tractors | 112 | 194 | 82 | 73% | 1,976 | 2,256 | 280 | 14% | |
| New Motor Cycles | 162 | 176 | 14 | 9% | 2,601 | 2,559 | -42 | -2% | |
| New Exempt Vehicles | 428 | 390 | -38 | -9% | 6,006 | 6,285 | 279 | 5% | |
| New Other | 129 | 178 | 49 | 38% | 2,143 | 2,570 | 427 | 20% | |
| Total New Vehicles | 7,043 | 7,940 | 897 | 13% | 154,727 | 161,191 | 6,464 | 4% | |
| Used (imported) vehicles | |||||||||
| Used private cars | 5,454 | 6,898 | 1,444 | 26% | 53,008 | 59,683 | 6,675 | 13% | |
| Used goods vehicles | 1,094 | 1,121 | 27 | 2% | 9,142 | 10,421 | 1,279 | 14% | |
| Used tractors | 209 | 227 | 18 | 9% | 2,173 | 2,317 | 144 | 7% | |
| Used motorcycles | 216 | 217 | 1 | 0% | 2,467 | 2,476 | 9 | 0% | |
| Used other vehicles | 557 | 635 | 78 | 14% | 5,579 | 6,021 | 442 | 8% | |
| Total used vehicles | 7,530 | 9,098 | 1,568 | 21% | 72,369 | 80,918 | 8,549 | 12% | |
| Total all vehicles | 14,573 | 17,038 | 2,465 | 17% | 227,096 | 242,109 | 15,013 | 7% | |
Figure 2 In October 2025, 28% of all new private cars licensed were electric.
| Most popular makes of new cars, October 2025 | |
| Volkswagen | 14 |
| Toyota | 10 |
| Skoda | 10 |
| Kia | 8 |
| Hyundai | 6 |
| Other | 53 |
| Most popular make of new electric model cars, October 2025 | |
| TeslaModel Y | 10 |
| TeslaModel 3 | 7 |
| Volkswagen ID.4 | 7 |
| BYDSealion 7 | 6 |
| KiaEV 4 | 4 |
| Other | 65 |
| X-axis label | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Jan - Oct 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 | 27 |
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (12 November 2025) published Vehicles Licensed for the First Time for October 2025.
Commenting on the data, Damien Lenihan, Statistician in the Transport Section of the CSO, said: “Today’s figures from the CSO show a 52% increase in the number of electric cars licensed for the first time in October 2025 (1,144) when compared with the same month in 2024 (751). We also saw growth in the licensing of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) which were up 23% from 500 in October 2024 to 616 vehicles in October 2025.
In the first 10 Months of 2025, there was a rise of 39% in new private electric cars licensed when compared with the same period in 2024 (22,613 vs 16,211). There were 30,569 new petrol cars licensed compared with 35,737 in the same period of 2024, a fall of 14%. Comparing the first 10 Months of 2025 with 2024, the number of new diesel cars licensed decreased by 23% (20,066 vs 26,176).
The total number of used private cars licensed in October 2025 rose by 26% compared with the same period in 2024 (6,898 vs 5,454). There were 1,527 used (imported) diesel private cars licensed in October 2025, compared with 1,446 in the same period of 2024. Used private petrol cars licensed increased by 15% in October 2025 compared with October 2024 (2,874 vs 2,505).
Data also shows that Volkswagen was the most popular make of new private car licensed in October 2025 at 562 vehicles, followed by Toyota (413), Skoda (405), Kia (310) and Hyundai (249). Together, these five makes represented 47% of all new private cars licensed in October 2025 (See Table 4).
The most popular brand of new electric car licensed in October 2025 was Tesla Model Y (115), followed by Tesla Model 3 (83) , and Volkswagen ID.4 (81). (See TEM28 for further information).”