Number of cars licensed in 2019 drops 7.1%

Since January 2019, 103,582 new cars were licensed, a decrease of 7.1% on 2018, while imported cars increased by 4.7%.

In August alone, the number of new private cars licensed for the first time dropped to 7,202, a decrease of 6.2% on 2018 figures.

In contrast, the number of used imported cars licensed in the Republic has risen to 9,320, an increase of 8.5%.

The total number of cars registered in Ireland during August was 22,342, in comparison with 21,782 in the same month last year.

Electric and hybrid cars accounted for over 10% of all cars licenced so far in 2019, compared with 6.7% in the same period of 2018.

Diesel vehicles accounted for 46.6% of all new private cars licensed in the first eight months of the year, compared with 54.0% in 2018, while 72.3% of imported cars were diesel.

The most popular new cars licensed in August of 2019 are:

Volkswagen (874)

Toyota (743)

Hyundai (664)

Ford (582)

Skoda (562)