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Vehicles licensed for the first time September 2024

Vehicles licensed for the first time September 2024

New electric hybrid cars licensed in the first nine months of 2024 grew by 24% compared with the same period last year

Online ISSN: 2009-5678
CSO statistical release, , 11am

Key Findings

  • The total number of new private cars licensed in the first nine months of 2024 rose slightly in comparison to the same period in 2023 (109,621 vs 109,482).

  • The number of used (imported) cars licensed increased by 27% (47,554 vs 37,591) over the same period.

  • In the first nine months of 2024, 14% of all new cars licensed for the first time were electric compared with 19% in the same period in 2023 (15,460 vs 20,517).

  • The number of new petrol and electric hybrid cars licensed in the first nine months of 2024 rose by 31% when compared with the same period in 2023 (22,604 vs 17,228). This has driven up the share of electric hybrids (excludes PHEV’s) among new private cars from 18% to 22%.

  • The combined share of petrol and diesel cars among new private cars licensed year-to-September has remained the same as in 2023 at 55%.

  • Toyota (772) was the most popular make of new private car licensed in September 2024.

Statistician's Comment

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (09 October 2024) published Vehicles licensed for the first time for September 2024. 

Commenting on the data, Damien Lenihan, Statistician in the Transport Section of the CSO, said: “Today’s figures from the CSO show a 25% decrease in the number of electric cars licensed for the first time in the first nine months of 2024 (15,460) when compared with the same period in 2023 (20,517). Over the same period, there has been growth in the licensing of petrol & electric hybrid vehicles. The number of new petrol and electric hybrid cars licensed increased by 31% from 17,228 in the first nine months of 2023 to 22,604 in the same period of 2024. 

In the first nine months of 2024, 34,779 new cars licensed were petrol compared with 36,407 in the same period of 2023, a fall of 4%. Comparing the same nine-month periods in 2023 and 2024, the number of new diesel cars licensed rose by 5% (24,058 vs 25,221).

Used Private Cars

There were 12,738 used (imported) diesel private cars licensed in the first nine months of 2024, compared with 11,916 in the same period of 2023, a rise of 7%. 

The total number of used private cars  licensed in the first nine months of 2024 was up 27% compared with the same period in 2023 (See Table 1). 

Most Popular Car Brands

Data also shows that Toyota (772) was the most popular make of new private car licensed in September 2024, followed by Skoda (718), Volkswagen (691), Kia (564), and Hyundai (504). Together, these five makes represented more than half (53%) of all new private cars licensed in September 2024 (See Table 4). 

The most popular brand of new electric car licensed in September 2024 was Tesla Model 3 (205), followed by Volkswagen ID.4 (94), and Tesla Model Y (74) (See TEM28 for further information).”

Editor's Note

Registration and licensing figures may differ in a given month for a number of reasons, some of which are outlined below:

  • Vehicles registered in the latter part of a particular month may not be licensed until a later month because of the time lapse between registration and first licensing.
  • In some cases, a vehicle may be registered by a dealership in advance of a sale.
  • Registered vehicles which are not used in a public place (e.g. tractors for use exclusively on the land) may not need to be licensed.

Cars Licensed

Figure 1 shows data on the number of new and used (imported) private cars licensed for the first time in September 2019 to September 2024

Figure 1: Private Cars Licensed for the first time
Table 1 Number of vehicles licensed for the first time classified by taxation class
Taxation ClassSeptember January - September
20232024Change 20232024Change
New vehicles
New Private Cars 6,8826,110-772-11% 109,482109,6211390%
New Goods Vehicles 2,8072,342-465-17% 23,76826,1682,40010%
New Tractors 154128-26-17% 2,0331,864-169-8%
New Motor Cycles 244213-31-13% 2,5572,439-118-5%
New Exempt Vehicles 514560469% 5,5735,57850%
New Other 140135-5-4% 1,5032,01451134%
Total New Vehicles 10,7419,488-1,253-12% 144,916147,6842,7682%
 
Used (imported) vehicles
Used private cars 4,2325,3931,16127% 37,59147,5549,96327%
Used goods vehicles 822889678% 7,0888,04896014%
Used tractors 194182-12-6% 2,0181,964-54-3%
Used motorcycles 2062373115% 2,3282,251-77-3%
Used other vehicles 5185998116% 4,3685,02265415%
Total used vehicles 5,9727,3001,32822% 53,39364,83911,44621%
 
Total all vehicles 16,71316,788750% 198,309212,52314,2147%
Open in Excel: Vehicles licensed for the first time September 2024 Table 1 (XLS 18KB)
Visit Table TEM01 on PxStat

Cars licensed by fuel type

Figure 2 In September 2024, 18% of all new private cars licensed were electric.

Figure 2: New private cars licensed by fuel type, April 2024 to September 2024
Table 2 Number of new and used (imported) private cars licensed for the first time by fuel type

Fuel & Emissions Type

Table 3 Number of new private cars licensed for the first time by CO2 emission band and fuel type, September 2024

Car Makes

Most popular makes of new cars, September 2024
Toyota 13
Skoda 12
Volkswagen11
Kia9
Hyundai8
Other47
Most popular makes of new cars, September 2023
Toyota 9
Skoda 10
Volkswagen12
Kia9
Hyundai9
Other51
Table 4 Number of new and used (imported) private cars licensed for the first time by make, September 2024

New electric cars by make and model

Most popular make of new electric model cars, September 2024
Tesla
Model 3		18
Volkswagen
ID.4		8
Tesla
Model Y		7
Kia
EV 6		6
BYD
Seal		3
Other57
Most popular make of new electric model cars, September 2023
Tesla
Model Y		14
Tesla
Model 3		12
Volkswagen
ID.4		10
MG MG47
Skoda
Enyaq		5
Other53
Table 5 Top 20 new private cars licensed for the first time classified by fuel type and make and model, September 2024

Imported Cars

X-axis label20202021202220232024 to date
<1 year old21111
1-2 years old1811798
3-5 years old5656362927
6-9 years old2025424241
Over 10 years old57141923
Table 6 Number of new and used (imported) private cars licensed for the first time

Seasonally Adjusted Figures

X-axis labelUnadjusted dataAdjusted dataTrend
September 2019410476378129
October 2019321476547977
November 2019167680538022
December 201972981488151
January 20202066587638261
February 20201326386118275
March 20201023969858200
April 2020133810631118
May 2020149017782661
June 2020218950845026
July 20201532973457528
August 2020736086758855
September 2020574791239117
October 2020418995359208
November 2020146864449101
December 20201032106388833
January 20211694882988490
February 20211167277408246
March 20211067266558223
April 2021821469508446
May 2021733786838811
June 20214980109819163
July 202120232103139369
August 2021856391039357
September 2021635494139185
October 2021388285848950
November 2021216787868731
December 202183283288563
January 20221581482248453
February 20221364392878360
March 20221187279478250
April 20221004580948140
May 2022712078468077
June 2022377484078144
July 20221507879928353
August 2022894285438646
September 20227315105148901
October 2022452797339052
November 2022235393919121
December 202286687809153
January 20231678787429236
February 20231328491949400
March 202315782101919657
April 20231127797129951
May 2023104521042910190
June 202355841281510269
July 202318106977810206
August 2023113281051310105
September 202368821001110029
October 2023458796079989
November 2023229195759984
December 202310641067610033
January 2024208611031610077
February 202413979953210068
March 20241491699329982
April 202412409102549805
May 20241005598069581
June 2024349988269355
July 2024185129218
August 202492808988
September 202461108962
Table 7 Seasonally adjusted number of vehicles licensed for the first time classified by taxation class

The share of electric cars in the total number of new cars licensed grew from 1% in 2018 to 19% in 2023.

At the same time, the share of diesel cars is falling. In 2018, 54% of all new cars licensed were diesel cars compared with 22% in 2023. See figure 9 and figure 10.

X-axis labelPetrolDieselElectricPHEVHybridOther
201839541150
201940473180
2020374353120
2021323487180
20223027157201
20233322198171
X-axis labelNumber of new electric private carsPercentage of all new private cars
201812221
201934433
202039405
202185548
20221546215
20232249319
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