Ireland is lagging behind other European countries when it comes to new car sales in the first half of the year. 

Registrations year to date in Ireland do show a small increase on 2023, up 1.7% at 78,942 compared to the same period last year when sales stood at. 77,602. However, figures from other countries show greater levels of growth. 

First half new car sales in the UK stood 1,00,6763, 6% up on 2023. In Germany, the largest country by volume, sales were at 1,471,641, 5.4% up on 2023. Spain showed 5.9% year on year growth at 535,388, Italy 3.7% growth at 883,673 and France 2.8% growth at France 914,906. 

So far this year, 10,747 new electric cars have been registered in Ireland, which is a 25% decrease compared to the same period in 2023 when 14,307 electric cars were registered. This equates to 13.6% of the market. 

Ireland’s electric vehicle sales are broadly in line with Germany (13%), but behind the UK and France which both have a 17% BEV share. Meanwhile take up on EVs is slow in Italy and Spain standing at 4 and 5% respectively. 

These figures show that internal combustion engine vehicles continue to dominate the European market, although an increasing number of these are now hybrid. They also indicate that Europe as a whole is still some distance from achieving it emissions targets when it comes to mobility.