A fifth (21%) of all new cars licensed in the first half of the year were plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, as the category increased its market share by half compared to first six months of 2021 (14%), according to the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

Similarly, electric cars made up 8,309 or 13% of new cars licensed between January and June, again nearly doubling from 4,185 or 7% last year, at the expense of diesel vehicles, registrations of which have fallen from 21,681 (36%) to 16,732 (27%) over the past year.

Overall there were 81,522 new vehicles registered in the first half of the year, an increase of 142 from H1 2021, split between 62,268 new private cars, 12,522 new goods vehicles, and 6,732 new other vehicles.

There were some 17,465 petrol vehicles licensed during the period, along with 13,789 petrol & electric hybrid cars, 525 diesel & electric hybrid cars, and 625 'other' cars.

For the year to date, Toyota has been the most popular manufacturer, accounting for 17% of new cars licensed, ahead of Hyundai (13%), Volkswagen, Kia (both 8%) and Skoda (7%).

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The figures show there were 8,667 used (imported) diesel private cars licensed in the first half of 2022, compared with 23,303 in the same period in 2021.

The number of used cars licensed in the first half of 2022 decreased by 42% compared with the same period in 2021, falling to 23,254 from 39,962.

In June, the number of new private cars licensed fell by a third compared to June 2021, and Hyundai was the most popular maker with 588 cars sold, beating out VW (538), Toyota (399), Skoda (255) and Renault (218). These companies account for 53% of the market.

Of the 3,774 new cars licensed in June, 1,238 were petrol vehicles, 1,313 were diesel, 484 were electric, 485 were petrol-electric hybrid, 29 were diesel-electric hybrid, 210 were petrol or diesel plug-in electric hybrid, and 15 were other.

(Pic: Getty Images)