105,000 new cars registered in 2022 include 15,000 electric cars

The total number of new car registrations for 2022 was up marginally on the 2021 figure, according to the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI), who released their official new vehicle registrations statistics today.

Total new car registrations for 2022 finished at 105,253 +0.3% on 2021 (104,932) and down 10.1% on 2019 (117,109).

New light commercial vehicle (LCV) registrations in 2022 decreased 17.7% (23,653) compared to 2021 (28,742) and -6.6% on 2019 (25,336).

New heavy commercial vehicle registrations (HGV) decreased 8.1% (2,494) in comparison to 2021 (2,715) and -6.2% on 2019 (2,659).

The number of imported used cars was 46,490 in 2022, a decrease of 26.9% on 2021 (63,617) and a decrease of 59.2% on 2019 (113,926).

A total of 15,678 new electric cars were registered in 2022, an increase on the 8,646 in 2021 and 3,444 in 2019.

Petrol accounted for 30.16% of new cars sold; diesel 26.77%; hybrid 19.29%; electric 14.90%; and plug-in hybrid 6.76%.

Those figures show that petrol remained the most popular engine type in 2022, despite a decline in its market share from 32.16%, while hybrid, electric and plug-in hybrid continued to gain market share in 2022 and now account for 41% of the market.

Automatic transmissions are now more common and account for 56.99% of market share, while manual transmissions have declined to 42.95%.

The hatchback remained Ireland’s top selling car body type in 2022.

Grey is the top selling colour – and has been for the last seven years.

Brian Cooke, SIMI director general said: “Despite the re-opening of the economy and strong economic growth, 2022 was another challenging year for the Irish motor industry, and new car, and commercial vehicles were affected by supply constraints.

“On a more positive note, the electric car segment continues to grow strongly and the 15,678 new electric cars registered in 2022 is an increase of 81% on 2021.

“Looking to the 231 registration period, retailers are reporting strong new car orders, which will also attract vital trade-ins for the used car market.

“Like the last two years, we’re expecting further growth in electric vehicles sales this year – however, the extent of that will be determined by supply and government support, both in terms of extending the current EV grant support and supporting investment in the charging infrastructure.

“The combination of government support and industry investment is essential if we want to create an active used EV market in as short a timeframe as possible.

"We have a huge challenge in reaching emission reduction targets over the next decade and this can only be achieved with the right economic and taxation environment that support the sale of new low and zero emissions vehicles.”