Sales of new electric cars in Ireland have jumped dramatically in March, with a rise of 52 per cent compared to the same month in 2025, and a total of 14,004 new EVs sold in the first three months of the year. Amid this spike in EV demand - driven by the sharp rise in petrol and diesel priced perhaps? - Hyundai has jumped ahead of Volkswagen to become the best-selling electric brand.
Were sales of all cars up in March?
No, and in fact, electric cars have beaten the overall market by a considerable margin. Possibly due to consumers tightening their purse strings in the face of a looming new cost-of-living crisis, thanks to the US and Israel-backed war on Iran, Irish car buyers broadly stayed at home in March, with overall new car sales - well, actually registrations, which is not necessarily the same thing - falling by 10.4 per cent compared to March 2025.
Total registrations for the year to date, having been significantly up in February, are now up by only 0.28 per cent, or 64,967 cars, on the same period last year, which saw 64,784 registrations.
How is the industry taking it?
Brian Cooke, Director General of the Society of the Irish Motor Industry, which compiles the figures, said: "Following a strong start to new car sales in the first two months of the year, March new car registrations indicate a softening in demand, with a decline of ten per cent when compared to the same month last year. New car sales for the first quarter of the year are now marginally ahead of Q1 in 2025, with a total of 64,967 new cars registered. Despite the slowdown in March, new battery electric car registrations continue to grow, with 3,851 units registered. Year-to-date EV registrations reached 14,004 units, which is a 40.5 per cent increase on the same period last year. A better guide perhaps is that the BEV market share stands at 21.5 per cent, compared to 18.9 per cent for the full year 2025. The strong growth in EV registrations has been reflected across all counties. In addition, new car registrations in Q1 have seen continued growth for hybrid electric (HEV) and plug-in hybrid electric (PHEV), while traditional petrol and diesel cars continue to see a decline, with their combined market share now just 34 per cent of the new car market.”
So hybrids are now our best-sellers?
Indeed so. Hybrid-engined cars now hold a 27.36 per cent market share of the total car market, followed by fully-electric cars on 21.56 per cent, petrol on 21.24 per cent, plug-in hybrids on 14.41 per cent, and diesel coming in last on just 12.92 per cent.
Light Commercial Vehicles (LCVs - vans to you and I) saw increased sales, up by 13.5 per cent to 4,463 registrations compared to March last year (which saw 3,931 registrations), which is an indicator that the economic malaise of the Iran war hasn't yet spread to the broader economy. Year to date, LCVs are up 17.5 per cent (15,654 registrations in total). Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) registrations are up 10.2 per cent (302) in comparison to March 2025 (274). Year to date, HGVs are down 6.5 per cent (971).
Imported Used Cars have seen a 37.7 per cent rise with 7,970 imports in March 2026, when compared to March 2025's 5,787 imports. Year-to-date imports are up 39.2 per cent (to 23,646 cars) on 2025's 16,987 used imports.
What are the top new sellers?
Toyota is still the best-selling brand overall, with Volkswagen in second place, followed by Hyundai, Skoda, and Kia. The Toyota Yaris Cross continues to be Ireland's best-selling car so far this year, having knocked the long-popular Hyundai Tucson down to second place. The Kia Sportage is in third, followed by the Toyota Corolla and Toyota Corolla Cross.
In the electric car market, as noted, Hyundai has taken VW's long-held top spot for overall sales. Hyundai Ireland told us that it sold 542 Insters, 500 Kona Electrics, and 423 of the just-updated Ioniq 5.
Volkswagen was in second place overall in EV sales, followed by Kia, BYD, and Tesla.
The best-selling EV model so far this year is the Volkswagen ID.4, followed by the Kia EV3, Hyundai Inster, Toyota BZ4X, and the Hyundai Kona.
March's best-selling car overall was the Toyota Corolla, while the Tesla Model 3 was the best-selling EV for the month.