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New car registrations increased modestly last year, with the latest industry data showing a 3% rise compared with the previous year. Figures released by Society of the Irish Motor Industry indicate that 124,954 new cars were registered nationwide in 2025.

Electric vehicle uptake accelerated sharply over the period. A total of 23,601 battery electric cars were registered during the year, representing an increase of 35.1% on the 17,460 registrations recorded in 2024. This marked the strongest annual performance for electric vehicles to date, exceeding the previous high reached in 2023.

Despite this momentum, petrol-powered cars remained the single most popular engine type in 2025, although their overall share of the market continued to decline. Taken together, electric, hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles accounted for more than 56% of all new registrations, highlighting the ongoing shift away from traditional fuels.

For the year as a whole, petrol vehicles represented 25.11% of the market. Hybrid models followed closely at 22.48%, with electric vehicles accounting for 18.89%. Diesel cars made up 17.09% of registrations, while plug-in hybrids held a 14.82% share.

According to Brian Cooke, the new car market finished broadly in line with expectations and there is cautious optimism across the motor industry for the year ahead. He noted that sales of light commercial vehicles were 7% higher than in 2024, while heavy goods vehicle registrations declined by 5% over the same period.

Mr Cooke also highlighted that battery electric car registrations increased in every county during 2025. Combined with growth in plug-in hybrid vehicles, this performance meant that Ireland exceeded its Climate Action Plan targets for the year. Hybrid electric vehicles continued to gain traction, while petrol and diesel vehicles experienced further erosion of their market share.

The figures also show that new heavy commercial vehicle registrations fell by 5.1% compared with 2024. In contrast, imported used cars increased by 16.6% over the same timeframe, reflecting continued demand in that segment of the market.

Automatic transmissions now dominate new car sales, accounting for 75.25% of registrations, while manual transmissions have fallen to 24.73%. In terms of body type, the hatchback remained Ireland’s best-selling style in 2025. Grey also retained its position as the most popular car colour for the tenth consecutive year.

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