Electric car sales up despite slow month for sector

Of the 2,192 new cars registered last month, 709 were battery electric cars, an increase from 528 last year

During October, there were 2,192 new cars registered, a fall of 9.3% year-on-year.

In a slow month for the sector, overall new car registrations dropped by more than 9% compared to the same month last year, but electric car registrations saw an increase, new data from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) shows.

During October, there were 2,192 new cars registered, a fall of 9.3% year-on-year. Registrations so far this year stood at 123,858, an increase of 3.4%, compared to the same period in 2024.

Of the new cars registered last month, 709 were battery electric cars, an increase from the 528 last year. So far this year, 23,085 new electric cars have been registered, representing a 38.6% increase compared to the same period in 2024.

SIMI director general Brian Cooke said: “October's new battery electric car registrations indicate growth in every county,” which marks the 10th consecutive month of growth in electric vehicle sales.

“Year-to-date, EV registrations have now reached 23,085 units, a 39% increase on the same period last year.” 

The best-selling new car in October was the Hyundai Tucson while the best-selling car brand was Toyota.

The best-selling electric car was the Kia EV4, with the best-selling electric car so far this year being the Volkswagen ID.4, followed by the Tesla Model 3 and the Kia EV3.

Tesla sales across a number of European countries plunged last month, with Spain, Norway, Sweden and Denmark all recording drops for the US electric car-maker.

The automaker's new car registrations — a proxy for sales — dropped 89% in Sweden, 86% in Denmark and 50% in Norway. In Spain, Tesla sales fell by more than 30% compared to the same month last year.

The drop in Norway came after several months of growth in a market where almost all new cars sold were EVs, and Tesla has remained the country's largest automaker.

Tesla had seen sales rise in a number of European markets in September, after falling for most of this year. Tesla's sales rose almost 2.4% in France.

In Ireland, there were 64 Teslas registered during October — an increase from the 38 recorded last year.

In the Irish new car market share, petrol cars continue as the new car market leader at 25.23%, followed by hybrid petrol-electric at 22.56%, electric at 18.64%, diesel at 17.13%, and plug-in electric hybrid at 14.83%.

Registration of imported used cars rose by 19% in October to 6,791 while registrations of new light commercial vehicles increased by 41.8% to 1,694. Heavy goods vehicle registrations were up 7.8% to 138.

Additional reporting Reuters