Plug-in hybrid car sales soar as fully electric sales recover after difficult year

The number of new plug-in hybrid private cars licensed for the first time during January increased by 100% to 3,427 compared to last year.

The number of plug-in electric cars registered for the first time in January more than doubled compared to the same period last year as the number of electric cars increased by 20%, new data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) shows.

In total, there were 22,484 new cars registered during last month, an 8% increase compared to January 2024. January is one of the busiest months of the year for new car purchases. 

Of these, 15% were electric with 3,386 registered, a 20% increase year-on-year. The increase in the number of new electric cars registered comes off the back of a difficult 2024 for the category which saw the number of these new cars sold fall 23.5% to 17,191.

Plug-in hybrids, however, only grew in popularity during 2024 with registrations growing 11% to 11,060. The number of new plug-in hybrid private cars licensed for the first time during the month increased by 100% to 3,427 compared to last year.

The number of new hybrid cars licensed rose by 4% to 6,072. This means the share of hybrids among new private cars fell slightly in comparison to last year from 28% last year to 27%.

New diesel cars accounted for 3,670 new car registrations compared with 4,337 in the same period in 2024, a fall of 15%. The number of new petrol cars licensed fell by 3% over the same period to 5,929.

The combined share of petrol and diesel cars sales last month fell to 42% from 50% last year.

In addition to the increase in new car registration, there were 4,826 used imported cars registered for the time last month - an increase of 5% year-on-year. 

Toyota was the most popular brand of car accounting for 17% of all new car registrations followed by Hyundai at 12%. Volkswagen, Skoda, and Kia rounded out the top five brands.

Together, these five makes represented 54% of all new private cars licensed last month.

The most popular brand of new electric car licensed last month was the Volkswagen ID.4 with 340 registered, followed by the Kia EV3 at 238, and the Hyundai Kona at 231.