New car registrations in Ireland - which, as we always remind you, are not necessarily the same as sales but which are a close analogue - fell by 9.3 per cent in October, compared to the same month in 2024, according to figures compiled by the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI).
Does that mean car sales for the year are down?
No, although the margin has become a little tighter. This year has been something of an up and down year for car sales in Ireland, so the high months are still keeping things afloat, and the car market has grown by 3.4 per cent for the year to date, compared to 2024.
What's selling well?
Electric cars, primarily, which will sound odd to some, but sales (OK, registrations) of electric cars were up by 34 per cent in October, compared to the same month last year, and have risen by 38.6 per cent for the year to date.
That's good, right?
Well, yes. We're not talking massive absolute figures - it's 709 new EVs in October compared to 528 this time last year - but any increase in EV sales is a good thing, overall.
What about the rest of the car market?
Well, Brian Cooke, SIMI Director General, told us: "While October new car registrations declined by nine per cent when compared to the same month last year, year-to-date new car sales remain over three per cent ahead, with a total of 123,858 new cars registered. October's new battery electric car registrations indicate growth in every county, with 709 units registered, an increase of 34 per cent when compared to October 2024, marking the tenth consecutive month of growth in EV sales. Year-to-date EV registrations have now reached 23,085 units, a 39 per cent increase on the same period last year. In the commercial vehicle sector, both light and heavy commercial vehicles experienced growth in October, with LCV registrations showing a 42 per cent increase for the month and are five per cent up year-to-date. HGV registrations showed an eight per cent increase in October but overall are eight per cent down on last year.”
What will be concerning the industry here, though, is a continued rise in the number of imported cars - up by 19 per cent in October, and 13.1 per cent for the year as a whole, to 60,452 cars.
What are the new-car top-sellers?
In terms of what type of new car people are buying, petrol cars continue as the new car market leader at 25.2 per cent, followed by hybrids at 22.5 per cent, electric at 18.6 per cent, diesel at 17.1 per cent and plug-in hybrid at 14.8 per cent.
For the year so far, the Hyundai Tuscon retains its near-decade-long stranglehold at the top of the Irish car market, followed by the Skoda Octavia, Kia Sportage, Toyota Yaris Cross and Toyota RAV4.
The best-selling brand so far this year is still Toyota, followed by Volkswagen, Skoda, Hyundai and Kia.
The top-selling brands when it comes specifically to electric cars are Volkswagen, Kia, Hyundai, Tesla and Skoda, while the best-selling EV models are the Volkswagen ID.4, the Tesla Model 3, the Kia EV3, the Tesla Model Y and the Kia EV6.
The best-selling new car overall in October was the Hyundai Tucson, while the best-selling EV in October was the new Kia EV4.