New car registrations fell by 6.8 per cent to 117,100 last year, as the number of used imports on Irish roads reached a new high for the second year in a row.
The number of electric cars officially registered in 2019 more than doubled to 3,444 from 1,233 a year earlier, but diesel remains the most popular engine type.
Diesel accounted for 47 per cent of all vehicles registered, with petrol accounting for 41 per cent. Hybrid, electric and plug-in hybrid all gained market share last year with hybrid now accounting for 9 per cent of all vehicles registered and electric for 3 per cent.
Brian Cooke, director general of the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (Simi), which compiled the figures, described 2019 as "a disappointing year for new car sales".
He attributed the decline in part to the record level of used imports, which jumped 13.1 per cent last year to 113,926 from a previous high of 100,755 in 2018.
“The new car market continues to be hugely competitive with generous incentives to buy a new car across all brands and all market segments,” Mr Cooke said.
Commercial
Simi’s data shows sales of new light commercial vehicle registrations were down 0.4 per cent last year to 25,350 while sales of heavy commercial vehicles rose 2.5 per cent to 2,653.
The hatchback is Ireland’s top-selling car body type, while grey remains the top-selling colour for the fourth year in a row.
The top-selling car last year was the Toyota Corolla. It was followed by the Hyundai Tucson,Nissan Qashqai, Volkswagen Tiguan and Skoda Octavia.
Volkswagen continues to have the most cars sales in the State overall, followed by Toyota, Hyundai, Ford and Skoda.
