Electric growth continues as more than 20k new cars licensed in July

Electric and hybrid cars account for 32.7% of all new cars licensed so far in 2021, compared with just 19% in the same time period last year. Picture: Doug Peters/PA Wire

The number of new cars licensed in July 2021 rose by 32% to 20,232 when compared to the same month last year.

In July of 2020, when Ireland was gripped by the Covid-19 pandemic, 15,329 cars were licensed in the seventh month, while 18,741 were licensed in the same month of 2019.

In terms of vehicle registration, 26,483 new cars were registered for July compared to 21,171 in July 2020 and 24,681 in July 2019.

A vehicle is registered when the vehicle registration tax (VRT) is paid to the Revenue Commissioners and is licensed when the annual car tax due on the vehicle is paid for the first time.

According to figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), in the first seven months of the year, more than 80,000 new private cars were licensed, an increase of 24.1% when compared with the same period in 2020.

Brian Cooke, Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) director-general says that new car sales in July have brought a "much-needed boost" after a difficult 18 months.

"Pent-up demand and record savings have led to strong appetite for all vehicles, new and used, cars and commercials," he said.

"While new car sales continue to be well behind pre-COVID levels, hopefully, this growth in activity in July is the first step in a return to more sustainable business levels."

Electric and hybrid cars account for 32.7% of all new cars licensed so far in 2021, compared with just 19% in the same time period last year.

The combined number of electric and hybrid cars licensed in the first seven months of this year was 113.8% greater than in the same period of 2020.

The number of electric or plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) more than doubled, accounting for 14.3% of all new cars licensed up until the start of August 2021 compared to just 6.2% in 2020.

There were 27,754 (34.7%) new diesel private cars licensed in the first seven months of 2021, compared with 28,077 (43.5%) in the same period in 2020.

In July 2021, Toyota was the most popular make of new private car licensed with 2,696 units, followed by Volkswagen (2,602), Hyundai (2,576), Skoda (1,751) and Kia (1,187).

The five-car manufacturers represent more than half - 53.1% - of all new private cars licensed in July 2021.