The Hyundai IONIQ 5 was the bestselling car in Ireland in January
The Hyundai IONIQ 5 was the bestselling car in Ireland in January

New car registrations data for Ireland in January 2022 has been released by SIMI. Over 25,000 cars have been registered in the new 221 registration period, with hybrid and electric cars showing the most growth in sales.

25,093 new cars were registered in January 2022, almost equal to the 25,140 registered in the same month in 2021.

Registrations of new electric cars reached their highest yet, with 2,714 registered in January 2022 compared to 977 in January 2021.

Market share for hybrid cars is now 26.5%, 8.4% for plug-in hybrid and 10.8% for electric, a record market share.

Petrol and diesel cars have once again seen a fall in market share but petrol cars are now the dominant fuel type for the first time at 28.6%, while the market share for diesel has declined to 22.4% in Ireland.

Cars with automatic transmissions have increased their market share for January to 57.1%, overtaking manual transmissions in popularity for the first time.

The top 10 bestselling car brands in January 2022 were: 1. Toyota, 2. Hyundai, 3. Volkswagen, 4. Skoda, 5. KIA, 6. Nissan, 7. Ford, 8. Renault, 9. Peugeot, and 10. BMW.

The top 10 bestselling cars in January 2022 were 1. Hyundai Tucson, 2. Toyota Corolla, 3. Toyota RAV 4, 4. Toyota C-HR, 5. Toyota Yaris, 6. Nissan Qashqai, 7. Hyundai Kona, 8. Toyota Yaris Cross, 9. Skoda Octavia, and 10. Ford Puma.

The Hyundai IONIQ 5 was the bestselling electric car in Ireland in January.

Used car imports saw a 40.8% decrease in January to 4,041 cars, when compared with January 2021 when 6,821 cars were imported.

Light Commercial vehicles (LCV) are up slightly 0.7% (5,055) compared to January last year (5,022). HGV (Heavy Goods Vehicle) registrations are also showing a small decrease of 1.5% (332) in comparison to January 2021 (337).

Brian Cooke, Director General at SIMI, said: 

“New car registrations in January are in line with last year. Sales are still 22% behind pre-pandemic levels (2019), largely due to supply chain issues arising from various lock-downs. With retailers reporting strong order banks and with expected improvements in supply as the year progresses, this should lead to both an improving new car market and a more even spread of sales in 2022. Also the trade-ins against January new car sales will have increased supply of used car stock, which means greater variety and volume for interested used car buyers in the weeks ahead.

On a positive note, electric cars accounted for 11% of the new car market, an increase of 178% on last year. The 2,714 new Electric Vehicles (EVs) on the road in January equate to EV sales for the whole of Quarter 1 last year. The increasing appetite for electric, plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) and hybrid vehicles has seen cars with battery technology accounting for over 46% of new car sales during the month. It is anticipated that the strong growth in EV sales will continue for the rest of 2022.

In this environment it is essential that Government supports the expansion of a national charging infrastructure to keep pace with this demand for EVs. In addition, the grant and taxation incentives must be extended if we are to secure a greater supply of EVs for Ireland and to encourage more consumers to choose low and zero-emitting vehicles.”