A total of 121,195 new cars, including 17,459 electric cars, were registered last year, a decrease of 1% from 2023 when 122,400 new cars were registered, according to new figures from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI).
Registrations of new light commercial vehicles rose 7% from 28,854 to 30,786 while new heavy commercial vehicle (HGV) registrations rose 8% from 2,655 to 2,865.
Imported used cars saw 61,583 registrations in 2024, an increase of 21.4% on 2023 (50,716).
The 17,459 new electric cars registered represented a decline of nearly a quarter (-23.6%) from 22,852 the previous year, although EV sales in December (296) were 48.7% against the same time in 2023 (199).
"The key feature of the 2024 new car market was the decline in Electric Vehicle sales, a reduction of 24% compared to 2023," said Brian Cooke, director general of SIMI.
"There has however been some tentative signs of a turnaround in EV sales towards the end of 2024, and the Industry is anticipating an increase in EV sales in 2025.
"The start of the new registration period, 251, this week, is an optimistic time for the Irish Motor Industry.
"With the variety of incentives and offers from retailers and manufacturers it is a good time for customers to shop for a new or used car.”
Phil Barnes, business development manager at Geotab, agreed that it was a year to forget for the EV industry, but he welcomed the rebound in sales in November and December.
"Everyone in the industry will now be hoping to build on this momentum in the new year, with the new government hopefully making a new year’s resolution to adopt initiatives to jumpstart EV sales in 2025," said Barnes.
“It is clear that the decision to reduce subsidies deflated the public’s appetite, so a new targeted intervention aimed at potential buyers who are being held back financially from making the switch to a zero emissions vehicle would be welcomed."
Petrol cars made up the largest share of the market in 2024 at 30.3% ahead of diesel (22.8%), hybrid (20.9%), electric (14.4%) and plug-in hybrid (10%), with electric, hybrid and plug-in hybrid accounting form 45% of the market.
Automatic transmissions now make up two-thirds (66.1%) of cars sold, while manual transmissions have declined to 33.8%.
The hatchback remains the most popular car body type, and grey was the top-selling colour of car for the ninth year running.
Toyota, Volkswagen, Skoda, Hyundai and Kia were the top selling cars brands of 2024 while the best-selling models were the Hyundai Tucson, Skoda Octavia, Kia Sportage, Toyota RAV 4 and Toyota Yaris Cross.
The top selling EV brands were Tesla, Volkswagen, Kia, Hyundai and BYD, and the most popular EV models were the Tesla Model 3, Volkswagen ID.4, Tesla Model Y, Kia EV6, Hyundai Kona.
(Pic: Getty Images)
